The Hindu : E.U. for new mediation strategy in West Asia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 05, 2002

International

International

E.U. for new mediation strategy in West Asia

By Batuk Gathani

BRUSSELS APRIL 4. The European Union, the United Nations and Arab states are coordinating their efforts to intervene in the crisis in West Asia.

In a strongly-worded statement, Romano Prodi, President of the European Commission, declared on Wednesday night that American mediation in West Asia was a failure and urged the U.S. "to step aside'' as the primary peace-maker in the region. For some time now, Europeans have suspected that the stance of the Bush administration is overwhelmingly "pro-Israel" and hence, its efforts in the region to structure a ceasefire have not been successful.

Mr. Prodi urged the world community to "let a broad alliance of countries'' mediate a ceasefire and a durable Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. His call came on the eve of the European Foreign Ministers meeting to discuss the alarming escalation in West Asia violence.

Mr. Prodi said: "It is clear American mediation efforts have failed and we need new mediation before the current conflict between Jews and Arabs escalates into a full-scale regional war.''

He wanted the involvement of not only the U.S. but also the E.U., U.N., Russia and moderate Arab countries in the new mediation strategy. He warned, "We cannot get out of this situation with any other partial solutions and further escalation of the crisis should be avoided at all costs.''

Spain is holding the current rotating six-monthly presidency of the E.U.. And in Madrid, the Spanish Prime Minister, Jose Maria Aznar, said he had offered to meet the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon and Mr Arafat to discuss the crisis.

The Vatican, which heads one billion Roman Catholics in the world, last night accused Israel of humiliating Palestinians and expressed growing Christian alarm over the threat to Jerusalem's holy sites posed by the current fighting. According to observers, the Vatican's remark was "anti-Israeli'' with the statement calling on Israel to use proportionate force in acts of legitimate self-defence. Egypt, a leading moderate state and the largest Arab country and also a key ally of the U.S. in the region, became the first Arab country to take retaliatory measures against Israel with Cairo downgrading its diplomatic profile with Israel.

Javier Solana, the E.U.'s chief foreign policy official, said it might be time for Mr. Sharon and Mr. Arafat to give way to new leaders. Mr Solana warned that Israel's military occupation of Palestinian cities would make the situation worse. The E.U. perception is that Mr Sharon has embarked on "a military folly that bears disturbing resemblance to his notorious and ill-fated invasion of Lebanon in 1982, leading to the gory massacre of Palestinian refugees". Some Europeans want Mr Sharon to be tried for "war crimes" at the International Court in the Hague. This is partly a reason why Mr Sharon has declined to travel to E.U. capitals in recent months.

The conclusion reached by many European Governments is that the best way to help Israel today is to stop Mr. Sharon from pursuing another senseless war. They also feel the U.S. administration may still have the clout to stop Israeli-Palestinian violence and to bring the conflict back into the political and diplomatic arena.

Such sentiments have been widely echoed in liberal sections of the American media too.

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