Gay Mitchell
Ceist:20 Mr. G. Mitchell asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the state of the Middle East peace process. [4272/00]
Other Questions. - Middle East Peace Process.
Willie Penrose
Ceist:38 Mr. Penrose asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if he will make a statement on the Government's view on the current state of the Middle East peace process. [4321/00]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 20 and 38 together.
The Government strongly encourages the Middle East peace process and fully supports the role of the European Union in its active contribution to furthering the peace process. The Government welcomed the relaunching of the peace process with the signature of the Sharm-el-Sheikh Memorandum last September together with the progress which has been accomplished since then.
More recently, however, the peace process has encountered some setbacks. In the Palestinian track, the implementation of agreements on a number of issues has been postponed. The negotiations leading to agreement on permanent status have been suspended. The target date foreseen in the Sharm-el-Sheikh Memorandum for concluding a Framework Agreement on Permanent Status has not been met.
The Israeli-Syrian negotiations have also been suspended. There is no movement towards reopening the Lebanese track. On the contrary, recent weeks have seen escalating violence in Lebanon.
These developments are of the deepest concern. They were the subject of discussion by the General Affairs Council on 14 February. The council appealed to all parties to exercise utmost restraint in the Lebanon and called for a resumption of negotiations on all tracks of the peace process in order to attain a comprehensive, lasting and just peace in the Middle East.
Despite the difficulties I outlined, I believe the problems can be overcome, that agreement can be reached on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanon and Syria, and that the September deadline for the permanent status negotiations on Palestine can be met. This will require a redoubling of effort by all the parties involved.
The Minister of State's officials have had plenty of notice of my question and I am sure they will have passed a comprehensive reply on it to the Minister of State. It seems there is no such thing as a Lebanese track because the Syrians have 35,000 troops in Lebanon and they cannot do very much in Lebanon without the permission of the Syrians. Whatever happens in Syria will have an effect on Lebanon.
Has the Minister of State any information on the Palestinian track of the Middle East peace process? Has he any information to indicate that the Israelis want this element of the discussions postponed until after the US presidential election in November? That would be a terrible pity from the point of view of the Palestinians who are anxious to make peace and to make progress.
Is the Minister of State and the Department aware that an appeal has been issued by the Palestinian people to ask those interested to redouble their efforts and become involved in seeking to overcome this impasse and that they have described this stage as the gravest state their talks have reached yet?
The peace process is addressing the most difficult issues between the Israelis and the Palestinians and there is little sign of any advance. The Israeli implementation of existing agreements on a number of issues has become slow and difficult. In particular, the Palestinians accuse the Israelis of advancing their borders and continuing to build settlements so as to create new facts on the ground which could pre-empt the negotiations on the shape of any future Palestinian state. Following on this and a particular unsuccessful meeting between Arafat and Barak, Palestinian frustration with what they see as Israeli intransigence has led them to break off negotiations.
Written Answers follow Adjournment Debate.