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Peres Says Security is Condition to Solve Problems in Mideast
Israeli Foreign Minister Simon Peres said Saturday in Lisbon that security is the necessary condition to solve problems between his country and Palestinians.
Peres, who made the remark after his meeting with Portuguese President Jorge Sampaio, emphasized that his government, led by Ariel Sharon, will not build new Jewish settlements and there will be no more land to be confiscated.
Meanwhile, the president of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), Yaser Arafat, had expressed his skepticism over the end to the construction of more Jewish settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, saying that in spite of Peres' assurance that there will be no more new colonies, "what really happens in the land is very different."
Both the veteran Israeli labor leader and the Palestinian president arrived at Lisbon on Friday to participate in the meeting of the Socialist International Council which closed Saturday.
"Colonists" don't accept what he says because there are extremist individuals in government supporting construction and committing crimes "against our people, our houses, our schools," Arafat noted at the end of the meeting with Sampaio, who also met with Peres afterwards.
In response to Arafat's mistrust, the head of the Israeli diplomacy acknowledged that in Israel "there are radical elements, " yet "they are not a majority."
After his meeting with Sampaio, to whom he thanked for the efforts of the Portuguese government to support the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians, Peres concluded his visit in Portugal.
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