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TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Russia expressed concern Wednesday over
U.S. plans to MOSCOW - Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov on
Friday lamented Israel's attack on Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's
residence, saying that the spiraling Mideast crisis can't be solved
by military force.
The Israeli attack on Arafat's West Bank compound "isn't
a way that could help find a political solution," Ivanov
said at a news conference. He said that the solution "must
be searched for through dialogue, including with Palestinian leader
Yasser Arafat," he added.
Ivanov said that Russia was conducting consultations with the
United States, European nations and others to stop the escalation
of violence.
Israel's Cabinet formally declared Arafat an enemy Friday and
Israeli troops stormed his headquarters in Ramallah.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that Arafat would
be completely isolated "at this stage" and left open
the possibility that the Palestinian leader could be expelled
later from the Palestinian territories.
Israeli Cabinet Minister Natan Sharansky told Echo of Moscow
radio Friday that Israeli troops wouldn't seek to kill the Palestinian
leader, but "if Arafat takes up arms and fire at our troops,
we naturally will have to respond," he said.
"I don't think it will come to that," he added.
Vladimir Lukin, a deputy speaker of the Russian parliament's
lower house, said that the Israeli attack on Arafat's compound
was a justified response to the latest series of Palestinian terror
attacks, which killed 30 Israeli civilians in three days.
"Now it is not clear who can sit down to the negotiating
table on the Palestinian side because Yasser Arafat has demonstrated
his impotence and no other negotiators are visible," he said,
according to the Interfax news agency.
"Primarily, it is a political and diplomatic flop for the
United States, because Americans with their inherent confidence
in their ability to resolve everything assumed the lion's share
of responsibility for the settlement of the conflict," said
Lukin, who served as Russia's ambassador to the United States
in the early 1990s.
Russia is an official co-sponsor of the Mideast peace process
launched in 1991 but has played a far smaller role than the United
States.
The Palestinian ambassador to Moscow, Hairi al-Oridi, called
on Moscow on Friday to send to the Middle East "an authoritative
representative, who knows the situation in the Middle East and
could help stop the bloodshed," Interfax reported. It said
that al-Oridi had in mind former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny
Primakov, who forged close ties to Arab governments as a top Soviet
diplomat.
See also:
Mideast
Peace Process
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