Arafat asks de Marco to help

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has appealed to President Guido de Marco to urge the United Nations and the Quartet Task Force to intervene to put an end to Israeli aggression and halt the building of settlements and of the "apartheid wall".

"This will create the proper atmosphere to rebuild confidence, cooperation and to restart peace negotiations, away from imposing de facto policies by military and security forces," Mr Arafat said in a letter to the President.

Palestinian Ambassador Awad Yakhlef delivered the letter to Prof. de Marco at the Palace yesterday morning.

In the four-page letter, Mr Arafat informed Prof. de Marco of the latest developments and spoke of the oppression the Palestinians have been facing for more than three years.

"The Israeli aggression is escalating in all its forms; siege, closure, killings, assassinations and systematic destruction of the civilian and security infrastructure," he said.

Mr Arafat also spoke about the road map to peace, which was adopted by the Quartet members (US, Russia, the EU and the UN).

"The Israeli policy is premeditated to void international peace initiatives," he said.

Mr Arafat thanked Prof. de Marco and the Maltese people for their consistent support to their "sacred and legitimate right in self-determination and establishing an independent Palestinian state".

Prof. de Marco called for the implementation of the international community resolutions relevant to Palestine, especially United Nations Security Council resolutions 242 and 338.

"Unless there is a serious political will for these resolutions to be applied, peace will never really take place," he insisted.

Addressing the ambassador, Prof. de Marco condemned terrorism of any form because this was a war against innocent people and nobody had a right to embark on such a mission.

"There has also been no headway on the road map and it is becoming less of a map and little of a road. Those of goodwill on both sides should predominate over those hindering the peace process and move ahead," he said.

Prof. de Marco said everybody had an obligation to ensure peace was achieved in this war-ravaged region.

"We have to create a situation where Malta can bring about a stronger awareness for the peace process to be seriously tackled by all concerned," he said.

He reiterated that Malta's presence in the EU would add a Mediterranean dimension and the island could further the cause of peace in the Middle East.