Solana Meets Arafat Despite Israeli Opposition

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, October 08, 2002

Solana Meets Arafat Despite Israeli Opposition

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Despite the Israeli opposition, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana met on Monday night with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in his headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah, which is besieged by the Israeli army.

Palestinian officials said that the meeting is aimed at finding the proper solutions to get out of the crisis in the Palestinian territories.

However, the Palestinian officials said Solana's mission would get more difficult after Israel killed 15 Palestinians on Monday, most of them in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.

Israeli Defense Minister Binyamin Ben Eliezer had urged Solana and other diplomats not to meet with Arafat, who was put under a tightened siege by the Israeli army for about 10 days. Most of the buildings in Arafat's headquarters were destroyed by Israel soldiers.

Solana has condemned the Israeli military action in the southernGaza Strip town of Khan Younis on Monday morning, in which 14 Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunshots, tanks shells and helicopters missiles.

After meeting with Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath inRamallah, Solana said that the Israeli action "was a shock," especially when the number of Palestinian civilians killed and wounded during the operation has increased.

The EU top diplomat said that that Quartet Committee, comprisingthe United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia, is opposed to "all actions of violence that targets civilians," adding that "this action (Israeli raid on Khan Younis) has to be condemned."

Solana told reporters that he also discussed with Shaath "how topush the peace process forward," adding "the best to do here is to try to get out of the crisis and get back to the road of peace."

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