Israel Could Resume Peace Talks with Palestine: FM Shimon Peres

Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres assured in Peru that his government could resume peace negotiations with Palestinian authorities, because "peace is like life, it doesn't die and the diplomatic ways should be privileged. "

In statement to local press, Peres, who participated in the inaugural ceremony last weekend of Peruvian new President, Alejandro Toledo, said that "former ministers could die, but not diplomacy itself, so peace negotiations must continue."

The Peruvian daily El Comercio released Monday Peres's remarks on the violence escalade between Israel and Palestine, indicating there is an uncertain future," yet it is possible to continue negotiating because the process is not lost."

Peres noted that the president of the Palestine National Authority, Yasser Arafat, has been elected by Palestinians to negotiate, and Israel must deal with him.

Israeli authorities keep an intermittent blockade on the Palestinian territories of Gaza and the West Bank, as well as attacks in revenge to demonstrations and terrorist attacks by Islamic militants and angry Palestinians for many months.

Peres estimated that through the Mitchell Plan it will be possible to get improvements in the Middle East situation, by means of four steps, first, a ceasefire, the most difficult part, the second, the control of the situation in the region.

The third is, according to Peres, gainer of Nobel Peace Prize in 1994, the re-establishment of confidence between both parties, and the fourth, to resume political negotiations.

"A ceasefire consists of many things to end clashes among people in the region to bring ease to military forces," he said, adding that as a consequence, Israelis could return to their positions.

Peres's statement came during discussions of experts from 13 Arab countries, since Sunday at Damascus, on a possible economic blockade to Israel, that would translate in annual economic losses amounting to three billion U.S. dollars.






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