RAMALLAH, West Bank, 6 May 2007 — German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier yesterday urged Middle East players and the international community to seize what he called a rare opportunity for peace.
Steinmeier met with the Palestinian Finance Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad, who apprised the German minister of the dire economical situation and the continued Israeli acts against the Palestinian people as well the Israeli policy of isolation of the Palestinians. It was for the first time since the formation of Palestinian unity government that a German minister met with a Palestinian minister. “I described to him the financial crisis we are facing,” Fayyad said. “I told him that there is no reason to continue the siege and the blockade,” he added.
Steinmeier hailed what he called a more constructive attitude from the Arab world to seeking a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, after visiting the Church of the Nativity in the occupied West Bank town of Bethlehem. “Realistically one must say that there are opportunities now that were not there in the past, but at the same time the risks are just as high,” he told reporters.
“The opportunity lies in the fact that the Arab world is being much more constructive — the Arab League’s decision to renew its peace initiative was more than helpful — and I am pleased that it was also welcomed by the Israeli government.”
“The European Union is ready with funds but above all the international quartet is ready to offer political support,” he said, referring to efforts by the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia to plot a road map for peace. The EU has seized on the initiative as a potential way out of the seemingly intractable conflict. Germany has made advancing the peace process one of the chief goals of its EU presidency.
With regard to Steinmeier’s visit, chief Palestinian negotiator Dr. Saeb Erekat said that the Palestinians “will tell the German minister the need to break the siege.”
— With input from agencies
