Ashton condemns West Bank deaths as EU looks for leverage (Roundup)

Mar 22, 2010, 19:03 GMT

Brussels - The European Union's foreign-policy director, Catherine Ashton, on Monday condemned the clashes in the West Bank which have left at least three people dead, as EU foreign ministers looked for ways to re-launch stalled peace talks in the region.

The EU is pushing Israelis and Palestinians to start proxy peace talks, but rising tensions and armed clashes in recent days are making that increasingly difficult.

'I condemn the latest violent developments on the ground. I'm particularly concerned about the violent incidents on the West Bank in the last 48 hours,' Ashton said after talks with EU foreign ministers in Brussels.

Israeli troops shot dead two Palestinians who reportedly tried to stab a soldier on Sunday, shortly after a Palestinian child died after being shot in the stomach with a rubber bullet.

The killings 'should be investigated, and I deeply regret the loss of life. The recent escalation risks undermining efforts to bring the parties together in negotiations, which is a paramount objective,' Ashton said.

Ashton was talking after meeting EU foreign ministers in Brussels, and just days after her first official visit to the volatile region.

That visit came just as Israel outraged the West by approving the construction of 1,600 new homes on occupied Palestinian land.

'The events of the past couple of weeks have been very serious, they were a setback, but these setbacks occur and the key thing now is to get back on track again,' said Tony Blair, Middle East envoy to the international quartet of the EU, US, United Nations and Russia.

Blair was speaking after briefing ministers on recent developments.

'There's complete agreement on two things: first of all to get back into direct negotiations as soon as possible ... and secondly to support that by the ground-up work which Europe is playing a big part in, that is building the capacity of the Palestinians on law and order, security, the rule of law and the economy,' Blair said.

Tensions rose sharply after the Israeli announcement, which was followed by militant rocket attacks launched from Gaza.

Both incidents were 'completely unacceptable, utterly unacceptable,' said Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb.

The settlement decision was seen in many quarters as deliberately undermining the peace process.

'The Israeli people do not want to be in the position where, every time the international community takes a step forwards, they take a step back and do something to make sure that peace talks can't start again,' Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn said.

But Blair said that he was convinced there was still a desire on both sides to make peace.

'I believe that the will is there on behalf of the Israeli government to get into direct negotiations: the question is, Can we make sure that those negotiations are credible? ... The more we can do to build confidence, the better,' he said.

Ministers also stressed the need for the EU to continue building up Palestinian government capabilities.

'I think there is an important European role in speaking up politically, but also in supporting the institutions of a Palestinian state,' said British Foreign Minister David Miliband.

'After all, it is European effort that is supporting the Palestinian economy, it is European effort that is supporting the development of the Palestinian security forces,' Miliband said.

Away from the official meeting, the ministers of Germany, Finland, Lithuania and Malta were due to meet individually with Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman.

On Friday, EU diplomats confirmed that formal talks between Liberman and EU representatives had been postponed, ostensibly because they had proven impossible to schedule.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that he would tell Liberman clearly that settlements are illegal.