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Powell urges end to siege
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US Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday called for the lifting of the Israeli blockade on the Palestinian territories “as soon as possible".
“We discussed how it is necessary for all sides to move away from violence and incitement and to lift the siege as soon as possible," Powell said at a joint press conference following a meeting with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in the West Bank town of Ramallah.
The Israeli army has imposed a punishing blockade on the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the explosion of deadly Israeli-Palestinian violence in late September.
He said negotiations should be resumed on the basis of UN Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338, which call for an Israeli withdrawal from Palestinian territories.
Powell is on his maiden Mideast tour since taking office in January. He held talks on Saturday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in Cairo, the first leg of his seven-stop tour.
After meeting outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak on Saturday, Powell held talks with Israeli Prime Minister-elect Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem yesterday morning.
Powell will also visit Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait in his current three-day trip.
In Egypt, Powell met an apparent rebuff for his insistence on restraining Iraq. Moussa said Cairo did not perceive a danger from Baghdad, although he acknowledged that some Gulf countries continued to feel the threat.
(SD-Xinhua)
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