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Mideast Situation "Very Dangerous": Egyptian FM
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher termed the Mideast situation as "very dangerous and bad" on Monday, calling on the Group-8 summit, slated for July 20-22 in Italy's Genova, to take clear stance on Israeli aggressive policy against the Palestinians.
Maher expressed the concern during his meetings with the ambassadors of the major industrial states to Egypt.
"The Group-8 should impose pressure on Israel to implement the Mitchell Commission's recommendations," said Maher.
The Mitchell report, released in May by an international panel led by former U.S. senator George Mitchell, urges both sides to end violence, take confidence-building measures and finally resume the peace talks.
"We should wait and see the results of the Palestinian-Israeli talks," said Maher, referring to Sunday's meeting held here between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.
The discussion focused on ways of ending hostilities and easing tensions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
"No progress will be achieved unless Israel stops its brutalities and resumes negotiations for a final settlement," Maher said.
He asked the Group-8 to help deploy international observers, who will monitor a U.S.-brokered ceasefire between the Palestinians and Israelis.
The Group-8 comprises Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.
The truce, brokered by U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief George Tenet, went into effect on June 13, but sporadic shootings and confrontation between the two sides have never stopped.
In the latest development, a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up in an attack against Israelis at a train station near the northern Israeli city of Haifa on Monday, killing two other Israelis. This was the first deadly incident in Israeli territory since a suicide bombing took place in a Tel Aviv nightclub on June 1, when 21 Israelis were killed.
Israeli troops and tanks moved into a Palestinian-controlled area of Hebron overnight, the second such incursion in three days, destroying at least two Palestinian positions in the flashpoint West Bank town before withdrawing.
The more than nine months of Israeli-Palestinian bloodshed, sparked by Israeli violation of an Islamic holy shrine in East Jerusalem last September, have left over 600 people dead, most of them Palestinians.
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