European Union (EU) foreign policy chief Javier Solana has urged that Israel lift its confinement of Yasser Arafat so that the Palestinian leader can attend an Arab summit that will review Saudi peace proposals.
Interviewed on Spanish national radio on the eve of a trip to Washington to discuss the Middle East crisis, Solana conceded Sunday that the upsurge in violence throughout the region in recent days did not help the climate for peace moves, according to Reuters.
"But in any case we must make every effort to continue trying to open a political path," he said.
He spoke as Israel's security cabinet decided to put what it called "continuous military pressure" on the Palestinian Authority and militant groups following attacks that killed 21 Israelis during the weekend.
Israel last week eased a two-month blockade of Arafat's Ramallah headquarters but decided to keep him confined to the city. Solana said he believed Israel's confinement of Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah had been a mistake.
"It has given him (Arafat) a greater importance among his own people than he had before, while, on the other hand, he doesn't have the capability to control the situation on the ground...," he said.
"But in any case, we must bring about that Arafat has liberty of movement as soon as possible and that he can be present at the Lebanon summit," Solana said, referring to an Arab League summit scheduled to be held in Beirut on March 27 and 28.
Solana last week held talks with Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah on a Saudi proposal for complete Israeli withdrawal from all Arab land captured in the 1967 Middle East war in return for full normalization of Arab ties with Israel.
He said the Saudi peace plan had created hope because of its timing, its content and the fact it had been put forward by Saudi Arabia, an important country in the Arab world.
"There is a summit of the Arab League at the end of March in Lebanon. He (the Crown Prince) told me that he was determined to try to achieve unanimity on this position," Solana said.
Solana, who is scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell and National Security Adviser Condoleeza Rice in Washington on Monday, said a U.S. commitment to seeking peace formulas for the Middle East was "absolutely fundamental”. (Albawaba.com)
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