DATE=10/13/00
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=E-U / MIDDLE EAST (L-ONLY)
NUMBER=2-267912
BYLINE=DOUGLAS BAKSHIAN
DATELINE=LUXEMBOURG
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: The European Union is calling for an emergency Middle East summit to restore dialogue and end violence in the region. Douglas Bakshian reports from Luxembourg.
TEXT: European leaders called on Israel and the Palestinians to halt the violence and hold a summit meeting in order to save the Middle East peace process. An E-U spokesman (Reigo Kemppinen) in Biarritz read a joint declaration:
/// KEMPPINEN ACT ///
We appeal solemnly to the leaders and to the
Israeli and Palestinian people to stop the
escalation of the crisis and to stop immediately
all violence. Everyone should have political
courage and the responsibility so that tolerance
will prevail and this will not continue. We
appeal to all parties to participate in a
constructive spirit in a summit to restart, in
all urgency, the dialogue.
/// END ACT ///
French President, Jacques Chirac, whose nation holds the rotating E-U presidency, said the world is traumatized by developments in the Middle East, since Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had seemed so close to a peace accord.
Scores of people have been killed in two weeks of clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Most of the victims are Palestinians.
On another topic, diplomats say the E-U leaders announced 176-million dollars in short-term emergency aid for Yugoslavia, to help it rebuild following the ouster of Slobodan Milosevic.
The new president of Yugoslavia, Vojislav Kostunica, is due to meet with European leaders in Biarritz (Saturday).
The E-U gathering is also reviewing progress on institutional reforms to allow the admission of up to 13 new members, mostly Eastern and Central European states. (Signed)
NEB/DB/GE/WTW
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