Chirac Defends Arafat's Legitimacy, French FM Barnier Meets Him

Palestinian FM Hails France for ‘Not Giving In’ to Israeli Blackmail

30/06/2004

Palestine Media Center – PMC

While French President Jacques Chirac told NATO’s Istanbul session on Tuesday that President Yaser Arafat’s isolation would hinder Middle East peacemaking, his foreign minister Michel Barnier pledged Paris’ help to build an independent and democratic Palestinian state after holding talks with the Palestinian leader at his battered headquarters in Ramallah, defying Israeli objections.

Chirac, who had clashed with US President George W. Bush at the NATO summit in Istanbul over Turkey and the Atlantic alliance’s role in Iraq and Afghanistan, said the US policy vis-à-vis Arafat was “not very prudent or compatible with a strategy of restoring peace” in the Middle East.

“People can have whatever opinion they like of President Arafat or any other president,” Chirac said on the sidelines of the NATO summit. “But legitimacy cannot be contested if a different legitimacy is not proposed,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

He said it was normal for France to have contacts with the Palestinian leader who was “probably the only person who could impose compromise on the Palestinian people.”

US officials meet other Palestinian officials, but not Arafat.

French FM Meets Arafat, Due for Talks with Qurei

Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier held talks with President Arafat in the West Bank city of Ramallah late Tuesday and with his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath earlier in the day.

Barnier was scheduled to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmad Qurei on Wednesday morning, also in Ramallah, and Latin Church Patriarch Michel Sabbah in Jerusalem later in the day.

Barnier and Shaath had earlier signed an agreement on technical and scientific cooperation which the chief French diplomat said represented a “concrete sign of trust and solidarity.”

“I have come to deliver the cordial greetings of the president of the French republic (Jacques Chirac) in these very different times,” he said.

“There is an active need to resume dialogue (with Israel) to revive the peace process with the well-known roadmap and that’s what I want to talk about with President Arafat tonight,” he added ahead of his meeting with Arafat.

Following the talks, Barnier called for an end to Israeli “repression” in the occupied territory while urging the Palestinians to press ahead with pro-democracy reforms.

“Peace needs to be built together, by both sides, and it requires parallel and reciprocal efforts, and this also means efforts on the Israeli side,” Barnier told reporters after an hour and a half meeting at Arafat’s headquarters.

For there to be peace, Barnier said Israel must “lift its blockade (on the occupied Palestinian territories), end repression, end the construction of the separation barrier.”

He was referring to the Apartheid Wall the Jewish state is building on occupied Palestinian territory.

The French minister also called for Israel to put a stop to Palestinian “evictions and to a certain number of (property) destructions.”

Barnier, who said he was “sincerely touched to find (himself) in the heart of the Palestinian territories,” said he hoped that peace was within reach, despite the current cycle of violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

Moreover, he commended the Palestine National Authority (PNA) for implementing part of the reforms laid out in the peace blueprint, but said further steps were needed.

“Much has been done here, notably institutional reforms,” said the minister, citing the appointment of a Palestinian prime minister and steps taken towards greater transparency in the financing of the Palestine National Authority (PNA).

“But there is still a lot to be done to pursue these reforms,” he said.

Barnier also said that the UN-adopted “roadmap” peace plan must be implemented “right away.”

“France and European countries believe that we can, and must, save the peace process and implement the roadmap right away,” he stressed.

The troubled “roadmap” peace plan -- drafted by the EU, the UN, the US and Russia and adopted by the UN Security Council in Resolution 1515 in November -- envisages the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel by 2005, but has made next to no progress since its launch in June last year.

Arafat Reiterates Commitment to ‘Roadmap’

Meanwhile, Arafat reiterated his commitment to implement “all aspects of the roadmap,” and called for an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied West Bank.

The PNA he said, would “deploy all means at its disposal” to ensure security in the Gaza Strip if Israel goes ahead with its plan to withdraw unilaterally from the territory.

Arafat also promised to “exert maximum efforts to ensure the success” of the Egyptian peace efforts. He said the Palestinians welcome Egypt’s ideas of “reorganizing the (Palestinian) security forces and strengthening them.”

Following his meeting with Arafat, Barnier described the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s unilateral plan to “disengage” from the Gaza Strip as “a useful step within the wider process” set down by the “roadmap.”

Shaath Hails French ‘Not Giving in’ to Israeli Blackmail

Following an earlier meeting with his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath, Barnier pledged France’s help in building a democratic Palestinian state.

“Our objective is to help you build an independent democratic and prosperous Palestinian state,” he told reporters after signing an agreement with Shaath on technical and scientific cooperation in Ramallah.

Shaath reconfirmed that the PNA wanted “to go forward with the peace process, to put an end to the violence and to work towards the creation of an independent Palestinian state which will be a force for stability in the region and an ally for France,” he added.

He praised Barnier for pushing ahead with his visit despite pressure from Israel on the European Union to boycott the veteran leader.

“France is a proud country” for not giving into “straight Israeli blackmail,” Shaath earlier told AFP.

The French minister, last week, held talks with Egyptian and Jordanian leaders over the Israeli intended pullout from Gaza and another four small, remote settlements in the northern West Bank.

He gave his strong support for Egyptian efforts to ensure security in Gaza Strip after the evacuation and said France was prepared to take part in “an international presence” in the territory -- a pledge he reiterated on Tuesday.

“I think that Europe and France will be ready when the time comes to provide this international presence,” Barnier said.

Abed Rabbo: Barnier’s Visit is Message to Israel

For his part, member of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and former culture and information minister Yaser Abed Rabbo said Barnier’s visit reflected the predominant view in Europe that the key to peace was an Israeli-Palestinian partnership -- not security measures.

“The Israelis use the issue of Arafat and accuse him of being an obstacle (to peace) as a pretext to impose their unilateral solutions.

“The whole world understands this and the French foreign minister’s visit is a clear message to Israel,” Abed Rabbo said.

Barnier’s visit to Arafat has been slammed by Israel, with a senior official branding it a “serious mistake” on Sunday.

Israeli Prime Minister Sharon’s government, having declared Arafat an obstacle to peace, has been trying to persuade European Union governments to follow the United States’ lead and cut off all contacts with him.

Arafat has been besieged by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) at his Ramallah headquarters since December 2001. Israel says Arafat is free to leave but would risk not being allowed back if he did so.

“We have reiterated our policy that basically meeting Chairman Arafat is counterproductive as he continues to be an obstacle, a part of the problem and not part of the solution,” an Israeli Foreign Ministry official told Reuters.

“We recommend not to meet him, and most European foreign ministers have basically respected Israel’s policy. But every country is free and entitled to act as it sees fit,” said the official, who was speaking in occupied Jerusalem.

Barnier had been due to visit Israel after meeting Arafat but Israel scheduled a separate visit by the French minister for September instead.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03.

Opinions expressed in various sections are the sole responsibility of their authors and they may not represent Al-Jazeerah's.

editor@aljazeerah.info