EU Nations Condemn Israel for Attack

YAHOO ^ | 3 22 2004 | By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer

[dennisw]

Mon Mar 22, 8:47 AM ET
French Foreign minister Dominique de Villepin. World leaders condemned as unlawful the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and warned Israel may have buried the peace process along with any hope of resolving the bloody Arab-Israeli conflict.(AFP/Thierry Monasse)

 

 

 

 

EU Nations Condemn Israel for Attack

31 minutes ago

By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer

BRUSSELS, Belgium - European governments condemned Israel's killing Monday of Hamas leader Sheik Ahmed Yassin, with several branding the airstrike a violation of international law and a blow to the stalled peace process.

The foreign ministers of the EU nations appealed to Israel and Palestinians to "refrain from acts of violence which will only lead to more deaths and will put a peaceful settlement (of their conflict) still further from reach."

Yassin, the founder of Hamas, and seven others died in a sunrise helicopter missile strike outside a Gaza City mosque. He was the most prominent Palestinian leader killed by Israel in more than three years of fighting.

Israeli officials said Yassin was responsible for scores of suicide attacks Hamas has unleashed since 2000. Palestinian militants vowed revenge attacks against Israel and the United States.

In a statement, the EU foreign ministers said Hamas was guilty of "atrocities ... which have resulted in the deaths of hundreds of Israelis" and that Israel has the right to protect itself against terrorist attacks.

"Israel is not, however, entitled to carry out extra-judicial killings," the EU statement added. It said Yassin's assassination "has inflamed the situation ... Violence is no substitute for the political negotiations which are necessary for a just and lasting settlement."

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Yassin's assassination would not make Israel any more secure.

Straw spoke of "Israel's paramount need to defend itself" against terrorists, but if it wants "the full support of the international community, it needs to do so within the boundaries set by international law."

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called it "very, very bad news for the peace process."

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer said he was "deeply concerned about the possible consequences," such as an escalation of violence.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said the killing "amplifies the cycle of violence."

De Villepin urged Palestinians and Israelis to recommit to the peace process that is jointly endorsed by the United States, Russia, the European Union (news - web sites) and the United Nations (news - web sites) and foresees a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Yassin's Hamas opposes that effort and is committed to destroying the Jewish state and replacing it with an Islamic one.

Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said the EU has long opposed "extra-judicial killings."

He said that reviving the peace process will not be any "easier when you have killings like that going on in Gaza. Terror and violence is not the way ahead."

Norwegian Foreign Minister Jan Petersen urged both sides to curtail violence and implement the U.S.-backed "road map" plan for Mideast peace.

"This act will contribute to increased tensions in the area and will make it more difficult to implement the road map for peace and a possible Israeli withdrawal from Gaza," he said.

 

 

 

 

[adam_az]

Dominique de Villainpin: "We're all Neville Chamberlain now!"

[Happygal]

You surely can't be surprised at Dominique (what sort of girly name is that?) DeVillepin spouting crap like this.

[Happygal]

You surely can't be surprised at Dominique (what sort of girly name is that?) DeVillepin spouting crap like this.

[dennisw]

Mon Mar 22, 8:47 AM ET
British Foreign Minister Jack Straw. World leaders condemned as unlawful the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, and warned Israel may have buried the peace process along with any hope of resolving the bloody Arab-Israeli conflict.(AFP/Gerard Cerles)

Mon Mar 22,10:11 AM ET
German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, left, speaks with the media prior to a meeting of EU foreign ministers meeting at the EU Council building in Brussels, Monday March 22, 2004. EU foreign ministers on Monday were preparing anti-terrorism measures ahead of an EU summit which will take place at the end of the week. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo)

[KangarooJacqui]

Those Eurowankers can go piss up a rope.

I mean, who the hell CARES what they "think"?

[Ashamed Canadian]

Why does anyone give a crap because some terrorist piece of sh*t was killed? Hello people, it's hamas for f*ck sake.

[dennisw]

EU foreign ministers? A bunch of party poopers. Anyone sane is glad Sheik Yassin is dead and gone.

[CasearianDaoist]

If the EU would just but out of there the prblems go away. There use of the Middle East to poke a finger in America's eye, and their pompous pretentions to world impoertance will be the end of them (and of us if we are not careful.)

[Gargantua]

Dominique de Vile-pinhead is going to be outed in Saddam's Billion$ of Dollar$ Bribery Scam along with Schroeder and Putin. Their treachery with Saddam is going to be their international undoing.

As as a handmaiden to all this graft, the equally complicit UN and Kofe Annus are also breathing their last.

France, Germany, Russia and the UN will soon be shamefully discredited historical footnotes.

;-/

[Stagerite]

World leaders condemned as unlawful the killing of Hamas spiritual leader Sheikh Ahmed Yassin

One would think that Israel killed something like the Pope.

[Gargantua]

Once we uncover the billions of dollars Saddam paid France to oppose the U.S. invasion of Iraq, we should seize the funds and split it with Israel to be used for wiping out all extremist Islam fanatics.

Give 'em their 72 virgins, if you catch my drift...

;-/

[Zeppo]

That's strange... I don't remember the EU condemning Russia's extrajudicial killing of former Chechen president Zelimkhan Yandarbiyev in Doha, Qatar (through a car bomb). Maybe I missed it, but a google search returns no evidence of any concern on the part of the EU. Why the double standard, EU???

[McGavin999]

The problem with the "world community" condemning Israel is that they do it so often that it doesn't even register anymore. Just as the terrorists claiming they will "open the gates of hell". So what else is new?

The gates of hell have been open for a long time. Israel is just making use of those gates by facilitating the exit of some rather nasty terrorists. If they are going to be bombed all the time, why not take as many terrorist out as they can.

As to the EU.....it beats rolling over on your back and pi$$ing into the air to show submission. If the EU could scrape up an ounce of testosterone none of this would have happened in the first place. It was their cowardice that brought all this on.

[richardtavor]

I highly recommend reading "The French Betrayal of America" by Kenneth Timmerman to understand how these B*stards think and what is really important to them....(excuse me, Old, tired Europe.)

[Alouette]

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called it "very, very bad news for the peace process."

Earth to EU: the "peace process" has been deceased for a long time now.

FRmail me to be added or removed from this Judaic/pro-Israel ping list.

WARNING: This is a high volume ping list

[UncleDick]

German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer

Fischer knows a thing or two about terrorism... Of course he'd come to the side of a brother at arms.

[trebb]

What is going through their heads?

How about: "Gee, what if I ever end up in a position where I feel it's necessary to kill innocents in order to make my point? Won't I also be in danger of being killed? I must condemn all acts of self-defense in order to protect myself."

[John Thornton]

Straw spoke of "Israel's paramount need to defend itself" against terrorists, but if it wants "the full support of the international community, it needs to do so within the boundaries set by international law."

When has Israel ever gotten ANY support from the international community, not to mention their "full support"?

The so-called international community is dominated by Islamic regimes and non-Islamic countries motivated by hatred of Israel.