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Palestinians Should not be Blamed for Violence: Egypt
Egypt hopes that a US-led commission of inquiry will come up with an "objective" report and not hold Palestinians responsible for the ongoing Palestinian- Israeli clashes, an official said on Monday, December 11.
Soliman Awad, assistant foreign minister for multilateral relations, said the report should distinguish "the aggressor" and " the victim," expecting that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat or the Palestinians will not be blamed for the violence in the Palestinian territories, the state-run Middle East News Agency reported.
The five-member panel, headed by former United States Senator and Northern Ireland peace mediator George Mitchell, began its investigation Monday into the Middle East bloodshed.
Over 300 people, most of them Palestinians, have been killed and thousands more injured in the more than two months of bloody clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces, triggered by Israeli right-wing leader Ariel Sharon's visit to an Islamic holy site in East Jerusalem on September 28.
"We hope that the commission will not hold responsible the unarmed Palestinians, who had to confront the Israeli war machine," the Egyptian official was quoted as saying.
Egypt appreciates the commission's efforts and is looking forward that it will produce a "fair and objective" report quickly in a bid to contain the worsening Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, Awad said.
The Palestinians and Israel agreed last month on the creation of the fact-finding mission during a Middle East summit held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh.
Other members of the commission are former Turkish President Suleyman Demirel, Norwegian Foreign Minister Thorbjoern Jagland and Warren Rudman, another former U.S. senator.
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