Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2004-02-12-Speech-4-149"
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"en.20040212.10.4-149"2
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".
Mr President, let us be clear, this is a most regrettable business. It would be most unfortunate if the Pakistani authorities were to believe that they could resolve the
case by detaining the crew. As the honourable Member said earlier, next week the EU Troika will be visiting Islamabad and I will once again appeal to the Pakistani authorities to release the crew on humanitarian grounds, in line with a guarantee that I understand has been given by the Greek Government to ensure that the crew would cooperate in any investigation that subsequently takes place. That seems to be a sensible way to proceed and I do not know what further the Pakistani authorities can expect from the Greek Government.
The Commission would recommend arbitration according to internationally established standards along the lines of the 1992 Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damage. We encourage Pakistan to discuss the advantages of ratifying the convention with officials of the International Maritime Organisation. In the meantime, it would be constructive to settle compensation claims in line with the convention's regulations, as though Pakistan was already party to the convention. That is what the insurers have proposed.
I have already raised the
issue with the Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Mr Kasuri, during his visit to Brussels on 5 November 2003. Heads of our European Union Missions in Islamabad have discussed the issue on several occasions with the Pakistani authorities, including Mr Kasuri. As referred to earlier, I and the Foreign Ministers of Ireland and the Netherlands have agreed that during our visit Pakistan on 18 February we would raise the issue again if the situation remained unchanged. It would obviously be admirable if things could be sorted out even before next week.
I repeat, this deplorable situation has gone on for far too long. The sooner it is resolved the better, and our sympathy goes out to the families of the crewmen and to the crewmen themselves, who have been detained in these circumstances for so long."@en1
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