EU/MID EAST: European Union foreign ministers have condemned Israel's assassination of the Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, saying the killing had inflamed the situation in the Middle East.
The ministers, who were meeting in Brussels yesterday, said in a statement that extra-judicial killings could hamper the fight against terrorism.
"The EU recognises Israel's right to protect its citizens against terrorist attacks. Israel is entitled to do this under international law. Israel is not, however, entitled to carry out extra-judicial killings. Furthermore, the assassination which has just been carried out has inflamed the situation," they said.
They called on all sides in the conflict to exercise restraint and to refrain from acts of violence.
"Violence is no substitute for the political negotiations which are necessary for a just and lasting settlement."
The EU last year put Hamas on a list of terrorist organisations whose assets must be confiscated, and the ministers yesterday recalled their condemnation of the terrorist atrocities committed by the organisation.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Mr Javier Solana, described the assassination as "very, very bad news for the peace process".
Britain's Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw warned that Israel's action was likely to be counter-productive. "It is not entitled to go for this kind of unlawful killing, and we therefore condemn it."
Poland's Mr Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz was among a number of ministers to warn that retaliation for the killing of Sheikh Yassin could spread beyond Israel's borders.
"I'm afraid that it may have very, very negative consequences not only in terms of Israeli-Palestinian conflict but I'm afraid that the threat of terrorist attacks also on other countries, including European ones, is growing. I understand that Israel defends its own country.
"However, the picture of a wheelchair-bound person who was killed with a rocket is probably not the best way of promoting Israeli security," he said.