CAIRO/BEIRUT, 12 June 2003 — Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi yesterday urged Israel to show “greater wisdom” following its failed bid to assassinate a Palestinian leader.

“Even if I understand Israel’s reaction, Israel must demonstrate greater wisdom, prudence and lucidity,” Berlusconi told a press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, following their talks here.

The Israeli government admitted Tuesday that it had tried to kill Abdul Aziz Al-Rantissi, the political leader of the militant movement Hamas, in a helicopter raid in Gaza City.

The Jordanian press yesterday criticized Berlusconi for not having condemned the Israeli attack, during his visit to Jordan a day earlier. Mubarak said the “Israeli attack comes at a bad time, all the more so because the Americans have asked to avoid reprisals.”

The Egyptian leader pointed out the attack occurred at a time when Egypt had sent a special envoy, intelligence chief Gen. Omar Suleiman, to broker a cease-fire among Palestinian factions. Suleiman yesterday went into talks with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Abu Mazen (Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas).

Mubarak stressed that Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “must help Abu Mazen to stop the violence. Otherwise Abu Mazen will fail in his task. There are no police, no security structure.” Mubarak hosted a summit in Sharm El-Sheikh on June 3 where he, Abbas and other Arab leaders pledged to help US President George W. Bush implement the peace roadmap.

Abbas then pledged to end the armed intifada during a second summit with Bush and Sharon in Jordan on June 4. Berlusconi arrived here late Tuesday as part of a Middle East tour which has already taken him to Israel and Jordan.

In Amman, Jordan’s King Abdallah said during talks with Berlusconi on Tuesday that an adequate basis should be found to launch the Middle East roadmap, which calls for a Palestinian state by 2005.

He also insisted that the European Union, which helped draft the blueprint, had a key role to play in the region, particularly Italy which takes over the six-month EU presidency on July 1. Berlusconi told reporters in Jordan that he was on a visit “to gather information and learn” about the regional situation.

He also renewed Italy’s offer to host a Middle East peace conference during its EU presidency and said the proposed gathering would focus on “the economic reconstruction of Palestinian territories and the entire region.”

Berlusconi said the conference would have a “precise commitment” to relaunch peace talks in the region and could be held in Erice, Sicily. The Italian prime minister presented plans for the meeting at a G-8 summit in France last week.

Palestinian leaders refused to meet Berlusconi on Monday in protest at his decision to boycott Arafat — a move which could undermine Italy’s plans for a conference.

Berlusconi is also facing criticism at home, where detractors accuse him of trying to divert attention from a corruption trial he was supposed to attend yesterday. The Italian Embassy in Egypt declined to say where the Italian premier would go next.

Belgian Court Decision Welcomed

Meanwhile, the lawyer for 23 survivors of the 1982 Sabra and Shatila massacres welcomed yesterday a Belgian court’s decision to allow a lawsuit to proceed against an Israeli general for alleged crimes against humanity.

“It is an important development for international criminal law and it is a step forward against the immunity of those that took part in war crimes or crimes against humanity,” Shebli Mellat told AFP.

Mellat expressed hope that “open pressures by the Israeli government do not undermine this progress.”

A Brussels appeals court ruled Tuesday there was no reason to reject the suit against Gen. Amos Yaron over the refugee camp massacres. The Palestinian defendants filed charges against Yaron in June 2001, under Belgium’s universal competence law. Tuesday’s ruling allows investigations to continue, leading to the possibility of a trial at a later date.