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Still no deal on terrorism code at EuroMed summit |
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Monday, 28 November 2005By Adrian Croft
BARCELONA (Reuters) - Leaders from the European Union and 10 Mediterranean nations began their final summit session on Monday still without agreement on a code of conduct to fight terrorism or a vision statement on Middle East peace.
Diplomats said foreign ministers of the 35 countries failed at a late-night session to resolve differences over whether to distinguish between terrorism and a right to resist occupation, and what to say about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
One EU official said the leaders might only be able to agree on a five-year work programme, already finalised.
But EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana voiced optimism that there would be a wider deal, telling reporters: "We all know what we mean by fighting terrorism. In reality, there is total cooperation between the countries north and south of the Mediterranean against terrorism."
The Barcelona summit, which began on Sunday, was meant to be the first time that leaders of a group that includes Israelis and Palestinians as well as the 25 EU countries had met.
Previous meetings of the Euro-Mediterranean group, launched in Barcelona 10 years ago, have been at foreign minister level.
Nearly all EU leaders turned up. But political problems at home or ill health kept most Mediterranean leaders -- including Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon -- away.
That undermined the prestige of a meeting which EU leaders wanted to extend cooperation across the Mediterranean to help combat terrorism and illegal immigration.
RIGHT TO RESIST?
"Among our most ambitious goals, a just and lasting peace in the region continues to be our first and oldest priority if we wish to transform the Mediterranean into an area of stability that promotes the development, wellbeing and quality of life of our societies," Spain's King Juan Carlos said in an opening address.
He called for reinforced cooperation against new threats to security through "an operational and effective fight against terrorism" and said there was also a need for "an orderly management of migratory flows".
Syria and other Arab partners wanted the EU to distinguish between terrorism and the right to resist occupation, while the Europeans and Israel opposed any qualification of terrorism.
Spain -- co-hosting the summit with current EU president Britain -- has lobbied for a greater EU commitment to North Africa. Madrid believes more prosperity in Africa will help stem the flow of illegal migrants desperate to reach wealthy Europe and counter extremist beliefs that feed terrorism.
Spain has sought to step up cooperation with Morocco since the Madrid train bombings by Islamic extremists that killed 191 people in 2004. Many of those arrested in connection with the bombings are Moroccan.
European leaders put a brave face on the poor turnout by their Mediterranean counterparts, but one European official said privately they had missed a rare opportunity to win more attention and support from Europe.
Only two -- Turkey and the Palestinian Authority -- sent their top leaders to the conference.
Sharon and Mubarak pulled out because of the political situation at home while Bouteflika was flown to Paris on Saturday for urgent hospital tests.
The presidents of Syria and Lebanon were persuaded to stay away because they are in diplomatic quarantine over the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri.
The summit set the stage for an Israeli-Palestinian meeting, at which Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to disarm the militant Hamas group.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, making her summit debut, sought to reassure Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan at a separate meeting that she would not stand in the way of Turkey's negotiations to join the EU.
(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor and Sebastian Alison)
Reuters via swissinfo |
Monday, 28 November 2005
swissinfo.org
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