Today's Date:

Statement by Philippe Douste-Blazy, Minister of Foreign Affairs, following his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian Authority (excerpts)

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I assured President Abbas of France’s full support for his tireless efforts to bring the Palestinians together in a national unity government which complies with the principles defined by the Quartet. In this respect, I said how pleased we were about the agreement concluded in Mecca under Saudi mediation. It is good for two reasons:

- firstly, it creates the conditions for a lasting cessation of the clashes between Palestinians. Pursuing these would, moreover, risk engendering a situation of chaos which wouldn’t be in the interest of anyone, including Israel;

- secondly, with the future government’s pledge to honour the agreements concluded by the PLO and international law, this agreement triggers a process which will have to lead to the full recognition of Israel by all the Palestinian factions – in the first place, Hamas. So we see this agreement as an important step towards Hamas’ wholehearted compliance with the Quartet’s three principles, which is obviously still the objective.

(…) I also reiterated to Mahmoud Abbas that the formation of this national unity government will naturally prompt the international community to be particularly exigent vis-à-vis the Palestinian authorities with respect to the need for them to combat the terrorist groups and put a stop to all forms of violence against Israel and her citizens.

Finally, I stressed the need for the immediate release of our compatriot, Gilad Shalit. His release, necessary for obvious humanitarian reasons, will also contribute, I’m certain, to creating more favourable conditions for relaunching a peace process seen to be more urgent than ever./.