MIDDLE EAST:Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern, who travels to the Middle East today, has strongly condemned yesterday's suicide bomb attack in the Israeli resort town of Eilat, in which three people were killed.
"I condemn this latest attack without reservation and offer my sincerest condolences to the families of the bereaved.
"I also condemn the terrible violence in recent days in Gaza and the West Bank, in which innocent Palestinian civilians have been killed during clashes between armed Palestinian groups.
"These latest killings confirm yet again that the only way forward for the Israeli and the Palestinian people is an urgent return to a credible political process for a negotiated two-state solution," Mr Ahern said.
The Minister is flying to Tel Aviv tonight and will hold separate meetings tomorrow with senior Israeli and Palestinian figures, including Israel's foreign minister, Tzipi Livni.
Later in the week he will be meeting the Egyptian foreign minister, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, in Cairo and, in Beirut, Lebanese prime minister Fouad Siniora.
