Albright Press Conference on Mideast Violence
REMARKS BY SECRETARY OF STATE MADELEINE ALBRIGHT
AND EGYPTIAN FOREIGN MINISTER AMRE MOUSSA
PRESS CONFERENCE
TOPIC: RECENT PALESTINIAN/ISRAELI CLASHES
SHARM EL-SHEIK, EGYPT
OCTOBER 5, 2000
MIN. MOUSSA: (In progress due to late feed) The situation is indeed
serious in the territories -- in the occupied territories, and the
atmosphere is getting worse, which will not help -- which does not
help the peace process. However, we are sure that working together
with the American sponsor of the peace process, with us, with the
Europeans, we would at the end save the process and restore calm.
But this requires that all provocative actions, such as the one Ariel
Sharon undertook and caused all the repercussions and the sad events
in the territories, we need that those kind of provocative actions
cease to exist and not to be repeated. We need the talks to resume. We
need a fair settlement to be achieved. And there is agreement on this
plan by all of us.
I wish to welcome the secretary, Secretary Madeleine Albright, and to
tell her that we were impressed by her determination and insistence to
move ahead and to save the process.
You have the floor, madam.
SEC. ALBRIGHT: Thank you very much, Mr. Foreign Minister, and good
afternoon. I'm very pleased to be back in Sharm and to have had this
opportunity to consult with President Mubarak and Foreign Minister
Moussa and to have a trilateral meeting with Chairman Arafat. During
my last visit to this beautiful place in September, it was the middle
of the night, so it is very nice to actually be able to see it and to
have the opportunity again, as we did then, to work with President
Mubarak. And at that stage, we worked together closely to help the
Israelis and the Palestinians reach the Sharm al-Sheikh agreement. And
Egypt and the United States will continue to work as partners in the
common goal of an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.
As all of you know, I have just arrived from Paris, where I engaged in
a series of intensive bilateral and trilateral meetings with Chairman
Arafat and Prime Minister Barak. In recent days, the Palestinians and
Israelis have gone through an extremely volatile and tragic period.
There have been too many funerals, too much sorrow, too many tears
shed and too many lives shattered. A way must be found to put an end
to the bloodshed, the violence, the victims and the pain. And I offer
my personal condolences to the families of all those who have lost
loved ones. This cannot be the future for the Palestinians and the
Israelis.
Yesterday's meetings were designed to try to break the tragic cycle of
recent days and to begin to make the difficult transition from the
psychology of confrontation to the psychology of peacemaking. This
will not be an easy journey, but Prime Minister Barak and Chairman
Arafat made clear to me their commitment to find a way out of the
tragic circumstances in which they are now caught up.
Both leaders have agreed that they will work actively to end the
violence, maintain calm and to ensure that there is no recurrence.
They have each issued orders to ensure these objectives are met, and
it is essential to see a new reality created on the ground.
For our part, President Clinton has already announced that the parties
have agreed that the United States will chair a trilateral security
committee to facilitate the process of security cooperation. And CIA
Director Tenet took part in the Paris discussions and will remain
involved in this effort.
The two leaders also agreed that there is no place in the peace
process for violence and that negotiations are the only way to achieve
their objectives. Clearly, the road to a permanent status agreement
will be extremely difficult, but the negotiations at Camp David
created a unique opportunity to end conflict, and that opportunity
must not be lost.
Both leaders agreed that they want to accelerate that process in an
effort to determine whether the gaps can be bridged.
President Clinton and I will do everything possible to assist the
Israelis and Palestinians in their efforts. And working closely with
President Mubarak and Foreign Minister Moussa, we can hopefully move
forward toward a permanent status agreement.
We know how important it is to build a bridge between where we are and
where we need to be. In that regard, there needs to be a fact-finding
committee that looks at causes of this crisis, what has gone wrong and
how we can ensure that it never happens again. We discussed some
ideas, and we will continue to work on that subject.
(End of available audio.)
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