Brussels guarded on Sarkozy's parallel Middle East mission

Jan 5, 2009, 12:12 GMT

Brussels - French President Nicolas Sarkozy is welcome to mediate in the conflict raging in the Gaza Strip, but he should follow the European Union's line, officials in Brussels said Monday.

'What's important is that the (EU's) message is maintained ... if other visitors pass on the message, we're more than happy,' European Commission spokesman Amadeu Altafaj said told journalists.

On Monday the Czech government, which currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, and Sarkozy, who held the presidency until January 1, are heading separate diplomatic missions to the Middle East in a bid to broker a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

Sarkozy is travelling as the current co-chair of the Mediterranean Union, a body he proposed in 2007 and founded in Paris in 2008.

But the deployment of the two parallel missions has raised eyebrows in Brussels, where some observers interpret it as signalling a French mistrust in Czech abilities to handle such a delicate mission.

That speculation grew at the weekend after a Czech government spokesman described Israel's land invasion of the Gaza Strip as 'defensive' - a label which contradicted earlier French statements that Israel's bombardment of the strip had been disproportionate.

The spokesman later retracted his words and offered to resign, but not before reports that the EU was divided over Gaza had spread widely in the media.

Diplomats in Brussels on Monday were keen to play down the idea of a split, but they insisted that the Czech-led EU visit should not be eclipsed by Sarkozy's mission.

'The EU mission is the centre of action,' Altafaj said.

The aim of both missions is to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas, ensure the access of humanitarian aid to Gaza and re-launch the peace process between Israel and Palestinians.