ITALY: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON SAYS HE MAY MEET PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER TO RESUME TALKS

Record ID: 400096

  • Title: ITALY: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON SAYS HE MAY MEET PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER TO RESUME TALKS
  • Date: 19th November 2003
  • Summary: (U7) ROME, ITALY (NOVEMBER 17, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. SLV / MV JEWISH COMMUNITY GATHERED TO LISTEN TO ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON 0.13 2. MV ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON ARRIVING FOR NEWS CONFERENCE; SLV NEWS CONFERENCE 0.40 3. (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew with Italian Translation) ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON SAYING "I hope that s
  • Embargoed: 4th December 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: ROME, ITALY
  • Country: Italy
  • Reuters ID: LVAC6YP4GSBHM62WL3F14B7BJF77
  • Story Text: Israeli PM says he may meet Palestinian PM "in the
    next few days" to resume talks
    Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon flew to Rome on
    Monday (November 17) to enlist Italy's help in fending off
    European Union criticism of Israeli policy towards
    Palestinians and help stem what he calls a rise in
    anti-Semitism in Europe.

    But at a meeting with members of the Jewish community
    later in the day the prime minister turned his attention to
    matters at home saying he hoped soon to meet Palestinian
    prime minister Ahmed Qurie.

    "I think that in the next few days there will be a
    meeting between the Israeli prime minister and the
    Palestinian one to resume the dialogue between them, Sharon
    said.

    Israeli officials have said that Sharon hoped to set up
    a meeting with Qurie after returning home from the Italian
    trip and his comments were the clearest indication yet that
    an encounter might be imminent.

    "I hope that soon we can resume the dialogue with our
    neighbours. If the dialogue does not resume it is not our
    fault," Sharon said.

    He also repeated that Israel was willing to make
    painful concessions to reach peace, but would not make any
    concessions about the state of Israel and the security of
    Israelis.

    "This is the reason I came today, the hope of peace
    between Israelis and Palestinians. It is the only thing we
    can hope for, for peace finally between these two
    populations who are so similar, I hope that something of
    this kind will finally be reached," said Rita Levi
    Montalcini, a prominent member of the Jewish community in
    Italy and winner of the 1986 Nobel Prize in
    Medicine.

    Sharon has been facing increasing public calls for
    fresh efforts to end a three-year-old cycle of bloodshed
    and revive a battered U.S.-peace plan.

    Earlier in the day, Sharon met with the Chairman of
    Italy's lower house of parliament, Pier Ferdinando Casini.

    The Israeli prime minister will meet with Prime
    Minister Silvio Berlusconi, whose country holds the
    rotating EU Presidency on Tuesday (November 18). He is
    expected to urge the Italian prime minister to water down a
    pending EU condemnation of Israel's West Bank security
    barrier and its snubbing of EU Middle East envoy Marc Otte.


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