EU: European Union foreign ministers yesterday buried talk of sanctions against Israel over its West Bank offensive and instead rallied behind US Secretary of State Mr Colin Powell's peace mission.
The 15 nations also rejected calls for an emergency meeting with Israel to exert pressure for a withdrawal of its forces from Palestinian areas, but left this option on the table.
"The situation is dire," British Foreign Secretary Mr Jack Straw told reporters in Luxembourg. "What hope there is depends on Secretary Powell's efforts." The United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations called in Madrid last week for a ceasefire, a withdrawal, a third-party mechanism and a political process to build peace.
"We're not behind Powell just because we like him - it's because he has the Madrid declaration as part of his brief," said Ms Cristina Gallach, spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana.
But while the decision to back away from confrontation with Israel underlined its commitment to a multilateral political process, there were serious doubts about Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon's idea for a regional peace conference if it excluded Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat and the EU.
Mr Sharon and Mr Powell, during discussions on the proposal for a conference under US auspices, failed to mention the EU. "Neither the EU nor Arafat is part of Sharon's conference - so he will have to hold it on his own," Swedish Foreign Minister Ms Anna Lindh told reporters.
Spanish Foreign Minister Mr Josep Pique, whose country holds the EU presidency, warned Mr Sharon that he would run out of mediators "very soon" if he only met those who agreed with his views.
Mr Pique, describing the humanitarian situation in Palestinian territories as "quite unbearable", said the EU would put strong pressure on Israel to allow aid and the international media in.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution last week which called on the EU to suspend its six-year-old Association Treaty with Israel. Under this, Israel enjoys preferential trade terms with its biggest trading partner. Only Belgium had openly suggested suspending the pact, and by yesterday its foreign minister had backed away.