The chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s information department is visiting European capitals, where he is trying to enlist support for the PLO’s demand for an armed international presence in the territories.
Yasser Abed Rabbo was in the Belgian capital last Friday, and after meeting with the Belgian State Secretary for Cooperation, Erik Derycke, Rabbo spoke with reporters.
“We are demanding an effective international presence in the occupied territories to ensure the security of the Palestinian population and the disarming of the settlers,” Rabbo said.
Rabbo said at the news conference that the PLO demand was not a precondition for resuming negotiations with Israel.
“It’s a demand which is serving the interest of both parties,” he stressed. “As long as armed settlers will do the job of army patrols, there will be a danger.”
According to Rabbo, “the international presence should be U.N. – mandated and supported by the peace process sponsors (the United States and Russia) and by the European Union.”
Referring to the Feb. 25 mass murder of at least 40 Palestinians at a Hebron mosque, Rabbo said, “This massacre has proven that it is impossible to envisage a Palestinian autonomy if groups of armed terrorists continue to have the right to kill.”
Derycke told reporters that the Belgian government, which supports a U.N. presence in the territories, had asked the European Union’s Council of Ministers to discuss the issue.
The discussion could take place this week, when the 12 European Union Foreign Ministers gather in Brussels for their regular monthly meeting.
Greek Foreign Minister Karolos Papoulias, whose country recently assumed the presidency of the European Union, also supports the PLO’s call for an armed international presence in the territories.
Papoulias met last week in Tunis with PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat and this week is travelling in the Middle East.
“The European Union is going to study the means for creating an atmosphere of tranquility for the citizens of the occupied territories and take all measures to prevent the repetition of this massacre,” Papoulias said this week in Amman, Jordan.
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