Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2006-03-15-Speech-3-006"
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"en.20060315.2.3-006"2
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"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Before moving on to the items on the agenda, I must inform you of something you already know. We will not have the opportunity to listen to President Mahmoud Abbas today.
The President of the Palestinian National Authority asked me to explain to you his reasons for having to return to his country, in order to try to control the situation and to prevent any more kidnapping of Western citizens, which is currently causing huge concern. The European Union staff who were controlling the border between Gaza and Egypt have also had security problems.
Furthermore, I must inform you that President Abbas has promised to return to Strasbourg and to speak to the European Parliament as soon as he can: probably during the next part-session in April. If that happens, we will then have the opportunity to hear how he intends to tackle the serious crisis in his country.
I asked him whether he wanted the speech that he was going to make today to be distributed to the Members of Parliament in writing. Mr Abbas felt that it had become out of date and that it was better to see how the current situation develops, and that he wanted to come to see us as soon as that situation allowed him.
I believe that this is a good time for the leaders of the political groups who wish to do so to speak. Some of them have asked to do so. Those who wish to speak may therefore do so for the relatively brief period of three minutes.
A few hours after arriving in Strasbourg yesterday, our guest today, President Mahmoud Abbas, had to return to Ramallah. This was of course due to the dreadful and deplorable events that took place in Jericho and which have created a violent and dangerous situation.
Last night I informed him that Parliament understood perfectly well that the crisis created in Palestine obliged him to return to his country to take control of the situation.
Destiny and fate have led to a highly symbolic situation. His having to leave Strasbourg having just arrived without being able to come to Parliament has something of the symbolism of Greek tragedy about it.
Mr Abbas represents the majority of Palestinians who still support a negotiated solution to the conflict with Israel despite all of the suffering and all of the disappointments they have been through. He represents those people who, despite everything, still believe that it is possible to find a solution by peaceful means.
He is a man who has been trying to achieve peace through negotiations since the seventies and his presence here amongst us today would therefore have been a golden opportunity to support his approach; another opportunity missed as a result of an unnecessary and illegal military operation and the violence that it has caused.
The whole world is now wondering why and how such a military operation can help to strengthen Israel's security, why and how the humiliating pictures we have seen on the television or the destruction of that prison by bulldozers can contribute to Israel's security. We Europeans will have to pay for a new prison, like so many other things destroyed during these tragic confrontations.
The violence that has followed this military action is extremely worrying. As you know, the news this morning confirms that there are three western hostages, including two European citizens − two French citizens. There have been rumours of more kidnappings, but they have not been confirmed.
Last night, before Mr Abbas left for the airport, I visited him in his hotel and he told me of the efforts he had been making during the day to stop this military operation and to prevent the spiral of violence before it became uncontrollable."@en1
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