Clinton on Mideast Fact Finding Committee
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(New York, New York)
November 7, 2000
STATEMENT BY THE PRESS SECRETARY
President Clinton announced today the membership of the Sharm
el-Sheikh Fact Finding Committee that will examine the current crisis
between Israelis and Palestinians. The committee, to which Prime
Minister Barak and Chairman Arafat agreed at the Sharm el-Sheikh
Summit, October 16-17, was developed with them as well as in
consultation with United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan. The
President has asked five outstanding individuals, who represent the
best tradition of public service both at home and abroad, to serve on
the committee. The Committee, which will be chaired by former U.S.
Senator George Mitchell, also will include former U.S. Senator Warren
Rudman, former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, European Union High
Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier
Solana, and Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjorn Jagland. The
committee, working with Israel and the Palestinian Authority, will
provide an independent and objective review of the current crisis with
the goal of preventing its recurrence. In order for the committee to
carry out its mission, the two sides must be making a serious and good
faith effort to implement the commitments they undertook at Sharm
el-Sheikh to assure that the violence subsides.
In keeping with the understandings reached at Sharm el-Sheikh, the
President also has invited Chairman Arafat and Prime Minister Barak to
Washington for separate consultations on November 9 and 12,
respectively. The immediate priority must be to implement all of the
provisions of the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement, particularly those aimed
at stopping the violence and the bloodshed. Beyond that, President
Clinton will discuss with the two leaders how best to move forward and
resume a political dialogue.
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