Military

DATE=04/03/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=EU/MIDEAST (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-288292

BYLINE=JIM RANDLE

DATELINE=BEIJING

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: European Union's External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten calls the situation in the Middle East "appalling" and disastrous and says the current diplomatic indecisiveness is a recipe for more bloodshed. On a visit to China to promote economic cooperation, Mr. Patten said it's time to stop talking about peace plans -- and put one into effect. V-O-A's Jim Randle reports from Beijing.

TEXT: E-U External Affairs Commissioner Chris Patten strongly supports the recently passed United Nations resolution that calls for an end to violence and the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Palestinian territory.

Pounding the lectern for emphasis, Mr. Patten says bickering over what step to take first is a terrible mistake.

/// PATTEN ACT ///

The alternative is more blood, more death, more mayhem, more destruction of economic prospects and more destruction of the innocent on both sides.

/// END ACT ///

He says he recognizes Israel's "legitimate security concerns" but says Israel must also recognize the Palestinian's "legitimate political

concerns."

He argues that current Israeli policy denies Palestinians political and economic future and spawns more hatred.

/// 2nd PATTEN ACT ///

What your are going to do is breed generation after generation of young men and women who will get up in the morning and strap bombs to themselves and go off and blow themselves, and alas, innocent men women and children to eternity.

/// END ACT ///

E-U Foreign Ministers held an emergency meeting in Luxembourg Wednesday to discuss the Middle East crisis. Earlier, several European governments responded coldly to an Israeli proposal that European diplomats fly Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat into exile.

Mr. Arafat is trapped by Israeli forces in his West Bank headquarters.

Tuesday, the E-U increased its aid to the Palestinian Authority by about 44 million dollars. The money is supposed to offset the impact of an Israeli blockade and help fund health care and education in the territory. (Signed).

NEB/HK/JR/MAR