- (News Agencies) -- Britain yesterday condemned the assassination
of Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, saying it was unlikely to help fight terrorism.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said that Israel had a right to defend
itself against terrorism but had to act within international law. "It
is not entitled to go for this kind of unlawful killing, and we therefore
condemn it," he told reporters.
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- Straw called for restraint on both sides, and said that,
"I don't believe Israel will benefit from the fact that this morning
an 80-year-old [sic] in a wheelchair was" assassinated.
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- Michael Ancram, foreign affairs spokesman for Britain's
opposition Conservative Party, said the killing was "a very regrettable
escalation in the situation in the Middle East."
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- In a statement issued at their monthly meeting, the EU
foreign ministers said Hamas was guilty of "atrocities... which have
resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Israelis" and that Israel has
the right to protect itself against terrorist attacks."
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- "Israel is not, however, entitled to carry out extra-judicial
killings," the statement added. The ministers appealed to Israel and
Palestinians to "refrain from acts of violence."
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- German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he was "deeply
concerned about the possible consequences" and French Foreign Minister
Dominique de Villepin said the killing "amplifies the cycle of violence."
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- Other EU ministers voiced fears that retaliation by Hamas
supporters could spread to Europe.
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- "Of course we are against assassinations like this.
This is not the way ahead. There's only one way ahead, and that is political,"
said Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller.
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- EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called Yassin's
assassination "very, very bad news for the peace process."
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- Non-EU nations similarly condemned Yassin's killing.
In Oslo, Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen urged both sides to curtail
violence and implement the road map.
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- Russia voiced concern about a possible escalation of
violence following the killing, saying it could thwart international peace
efforts in the Middle East.
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- The South African government said "extra judicial
assassinations are in contravention of international law [and] strengthen
those not committed to achieving peace in the Middle East."
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- It cautioned Palestinians against using Yassin's death
as "a pretext" for renewed violence.
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- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan condemned
the assassination, saying it would do nothing to help Middle East peace
efforts.
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- "I do condemn the targeted assassination of Hamas
leader Ahmed Yassin and the others who died with him," Annan said
as he arrived at UN headquarters in New York.
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- "Such actions are not only contrary to international
law but they do not do anything to help the search for a peaceful solution,"
he told reporters.
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- The Vatican also condemned the assassination, saying
authentic and lasting peace "cannot be the fruit of a simple show
of force" but is "above all the fruit of moral and legal action."
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- Meanwhile, the office of Romanian President Ion Iliescu
said yesterday that he had postponed a visit to Israel originally set for
this week, due to the mass demonstrations that have erupted after the killing
Yassin.
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- Iliescu was due to begin a two-day visit to Israel yesterday.
The visit will be rescheduled, his office said. No new date has been set.
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