Gold9472
07-16-2006, 08:28 PM
G-8 Leaders Call for End of Mideast Violence
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500571_pf.html
By Peter Baker and Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 16, 2006; 4:24 PM
STRELNA, Russia, July 16 -- President Bush and seven other world leaders put aside differences and joined together Sunday to call for "an immediate end to the current violence" in the Middle East, demanding that Islamic radicals stop firing rockets at Jewish cities and release captured Israeli soldiers while insisting that Israel halt military operations and free arrested Palestinian officials.
The statement hammered out after hours of intense negotiations at the Group of Eight summit also envisions the prospect of an international security force taking up positions along the Israeli-Lebanese border to separate fighting forces, which would be a significant escalation of outside involvement in the historically volatile region.
The day-long discussions overshadowed the G-8's scheduled agenda of talks on energy, disease and education, demonstrating the alarm in the international community over the rising violence in Israel and Lebanon. "We indeed are witnesses to a veritable explosion," French President Jacques Chirac said. "This is a situation of grave, grave concern to us, which occupies us here."
The leaders managed to bridge deep divisions over the Mideast events. Bush has steadfastly supported Israel, saying it has a right to defend itself after Hamas and Hezbollah guerrillas seized Israeli soldiers and fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. Chirac has criticized Israel for what he sees as an excessive response that has included bombing airports, roads, bridges, electricity stations and other civilian targets in Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates free of government control.
During the debate, Bush found support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while Chirac's position was largely shared by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper rounded out the G-8 sessions.
Both sides got some of what they wanted in the final statement. The two-page document strongly places blame for the crisis of the past few weeks on Hezbollah and Hamas, echoing language Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been using since arriving in Russia for the summit.
"The root cause of the problems in the region is the absence of a comprehensive Middle East peace," it says. "The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilize the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace. These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider chaos."
At the same time, it also insists that Israel pull back from its aggressive retaliation and includes demands that U.S. officials have not made, particularly the release of Palestinian ministers and legislators who have been arrested in recent weeks in response to the Hamas attacks in Gaza.
"It is also critical that Israel, while exercising the right to defend itself, be mindful of the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions," it says. "We call upon Israel to exercise utmost restraint, seeking to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure and to refrain from acts that would destabilize the Lebanese government."
Still, the statement skipped around some of the most pointed language used in recent days. It does not identify "those that support" Hezbollah guerrillas, although the United States has repeatedly said Syria and Iran should be held to account. Neither does it use the word "disproportionate" to describe Israel's actions as Chirac and others have or the word "ceasefire" to describe the leaders' goal.
Each side then interpreted it to mean those things anyway. At a news conference, Chirac said the statement "states clearly our determination to put an end to this escalation and there be a lasting ceasefire, be it in Gaza or Lebanon." He said the G-8 leaders "expressed our grave reservations as to the disproportionate nature of Israel's provoked response."
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, briefing reporters traveling with Bush, disputed Chirac's use of the word disproportionate. "That word's not used in the statement," he said.
"It's not in the French version either," added White House press secretary Tony Snow.
Nor is "ceasefire." But the statement does say, "Our goal is an immediate end to the current violence." Burns interpreted that to mean that Hezbollah and Hamas would first have to release the captured Israeli soldiers and halt rocket attacks, and only then would Israel have to end its military operations.
As for not identifying the countries behind Hezbollah in the statement, Burns said "Everyone knows who we mean. We mean Iran and Syria."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/07/15/AR2006071500571_pf.html
By Peter Baker and Peter Finn
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, July 16, 2006; 4:24 PM
STRELNA, Russia, July 16 -- President Bush and seven other world leaders put aside differences and joined together Sunday to call for "an immediate end to the current violence" in the Middle East, demanding that Islamic radicals stop firing rockets at Jewish cities and release captured Israeli soldiers while insisting that Israel halt military operations and free arrested Palestinian officials.
The statement hammered out after hours of intense negotiations at the Group of Eight summit also envisions the prospect of an international security force taking up positions along the Israeli-Lebanese border to separate fighting forces, which would be a significant escalation of outside involvement in the historically volatile region.
The day-long discussions overshadowed the G-8's scheduled agenda of talks on energy, disease and education, demonstrating the alarm in the international community over the rising violence in Israel and Lebanon. "We indeed are witnesses to a veritable explosion," French President Jacques Chirac said. "This is a situation of grave, grave concern to us, which occupies us here."
The leaders managed to bridge deep divisions over the Mideast events. Bush has steadfastly supported Israel, saying it has a right to defend itself after Hamas and Hezbollah guerrillas seized Israeli soldiers and fired hundreds of rockets into Israel. Chirac has criticized Israel for what he sees as an excessive response that has included bombing airports, roads, bridges, electricity stations and other civilian targets in Lebanon, where Hezbollah operates free of government control.
During the debate, Bush found support from British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, while Chirac's position was largely shared by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper rounded out the G-8 sessions.
Both sides got some of what they wanted in the final statement. The two-page document strongly places blame for the crisis of the past few weeks on Hezbollah and Hamas, echoing language Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have been using since arriving in Russia for the summit.
"The root cause of the problems in the region is the absence of a comprehensive Middle East peace," it says. "The immediate crisis results from efforts by extremist forces to destabilize the region and to frustrate the aspirations of the Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people for democracy and peace. These extremist elements and those that support them cannot be allowed to plunge the Middle East into chaos and provoke a wider chaos."
At the same time, it also insists that Israel pull back from its aggressive retaliation and includes demands that U.S. officials have not made, particularly the release of Palestinian ministers and legislators who have been arrested in recent weeks in response to the Hamas attacks in Gaza.
"It is also critical that Israel, while exercising the right to defend itself, be mindful of the strategic and humanitarian consequences of its actions," it says. "We call upon Israel to exercise utmost restraint, seeking to avoid casualties among innocent civilians and damage to civilian infrastructure and to refrain from acts that would destabilize the Lebanese government."
Still, the statement skipped around some of the most pointed language used in recent days. It does not identify "those that support" Hezbollah guerrillas, although the United States has repeatedly said Syria and Iran should be held to account. Neither does it use the word "disproportionate" to describe Israel's actions as Chirac and others have or the word "ceasefire" to describe the leaders' goal.
Each side then interpreted it to mean those things anyway. At a news conference, Chirac said the statement "states clearly our determination to put an end to this escalation and there be a lasting ceasefire, be it in Gaza or Lebanon." He said the G-8 leaders "expressed our grave reservations as to the disproportionate nature of Israel's provoked response."
Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns, briefing reporters traveling with Bush, disputed Chirac's use of the word disproportionate. "That word's not used in the statement," he said.
"It's not in the French version either," added White House press secretary Tony Snow.
Nor is "ceasefire." But the statement does say, "Our goal is an immediate end to the current violence." Burns interpreted that to mean that Hezbollah and Hamas would first have to release the captured Israeli soldiers and halt rocket attacks, and only then would Israel have to end its military operations.
As for not identifying the countries behind Hezbollah in the statement, Burns said "Everyone knows who we mean. We mean Iran and Syria."