EU Reassures Arafat of Support for Palestinian Reforms

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, July 04, 2002

EU Reassures Arafat of Support for Palestinian Reforms

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Javier Solana, European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, has reassured Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat of the EU support for his reform efforts, Egypt's official MENA news agency reported on Wednesday.

Solana offered the EU support during his phone talks with ArafatTuesday evening, Solana's spokeswoman Christina Jaiac told MENA in Brussels, where the EU is headquartered.

The EU support for Arafat's reform drive was seen as an implicitendorsement of the Palestinian leader, a move different from a U.S.call for the change of the current Palestinian leadership.

In his June 24 speech, U.S. President George W. Bush conditionedthe creation of a Palestinian state on the replacement of the leadership under Arafat.

Jaiac told MENA that Solana also informed Arafat of the outcome of a four-party meeting on the Mideast situation held in Britain onTuesday.

Russian Mideast envoy Andrei Vdovin, U.S. Assistant Secretary ofState William Burns, Terje Roed-Larsen, U.N. chief Kofi Annan's Mideast envoy, and EU Mideast envoy Miguel Moratinos attended the meeting.

They agreed to form a working group which would help the Palestinian National Authority carry out its reform and reconstruction plans to pave the way for holding legislative and presidential elections early next year, according to the spokeswoman.

"They discussed the possibility of holding a four-way meeting atthe highest level before the end of the summer," she added.

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