Middle East talks, with Arafat
Our meeting with Jose-Maria Aznar was scheduled right after the less than fruitful mission by US Secretary of State Colin Powell to the Middle East. Just a few hours before our interview with the Spanish prime minister, in his capacity as European Union president, he had talked to Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak – who had avoided a meeting with Powell. «Although the situation is extremely difficult, I think that talk of a complete failure is exaggerated. Arafat did not talk about a ‘disaster’ as did some of his associates, but on the contrary he told me that his talks with Powell had been constructive,» said Aznar. Asked to comment on criticism regarding a lack of EU policy on the Middle East and the humiliating sidelining of the EU by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (who did not permit Solana to visit Arafat), as well as on the Israeli-US proposals for an international peace conference without the EU, Aznar said: «Member states have various opinions on the Middle East. «However, I believe that the EU has responded to the best of its ability, and in a way that ensures its own cohesion, to the demands of the moment. «The Barcelona declaration and the US- EU-Russia-UN meeting in Madrid has produced the most advanced document to date on the Palestinian problem. «We have not hesitated to condemn the humanitarian disaster in the occupied territories, as well as the terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians,» he said. Aznar raised three conditions for the success of an international peace conference, including a specific political plan providing for the establishment of a viable Palestinian state. «If that cannot be done at once, the two sides should at least be divided, with international observers,» the prime minister said. The US, EU, Russia and the UN should be part of the conference.Finally, humanitarian aid should be sent immediately to Palestinian areas,» Aznar added. Arafat’s participation was «self-evident», he said, along with that of Syria and Lebanon as well as «moderate Arab states,» since the goal should be a comprehensive peace between Israel and the Arabs, as suggested in the plan drafted by Saudi Arabia’s Prince Abdullah. Commenting on the failed coup in Venezuela, Aznar, who had in the past expressed «profound trust» in Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, said Spain had a duty to contribute to consolidating stability in the country, «nothing more, nothing less.» The EU hoped, he said, that the Venezuelan government would weigh its policies without any desire for revenge and would respect democratic freedoms.
