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Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-08-24Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>CONTENTS
[01] Greek FM: UN resolution a 'necessary step' for Middle East peaceGreek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis urged all sides in the Middle East crisis to implement United Nations resolution 1701 as a necessary step toward peace, as she departed from the Jordanian capital Amman for Tel Aviv on Thursday. "Of course the Security Council decision is not perfect. It is the result of a compromise. It is, however, a necessary step for a forward movement, in order to give peace a chance," she told reporters at Amman airport, in response to questions about the resolution's weaknesses. akoyannis also pointed out that a condition for the success of the truce agreed was that it be promptly observed. According to the Greek foreign minister, meanwhile, a solution to the Palestinian problem was the key to building up peace in the region and that the present fragile truce was a crucial turning point for the Middle East problem."This was, is and will be - until it is solved - the catalytic problem for the wider region," she said. During her visit to Jordan, which was the third stop in her three-day tour of the Middle East after Cyprus and Lebanon, Bakoyannis met visiting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and attended a dinner hosted by her Jordanian counterpart Abdelelah Al-Khatib, while in the morning she was received by Jordan's King Abdullah II and Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit. Athens' emphasis on the Palestinian problem as a key to a solution in the Middle East crisis was received with approval in Amman - especially by the Palestinian president - with Jordanian officials generally expecting Greece to play a positive role when it takes over the rotating UN Security Council monthly presidency on September 1. Asked about the role Greece intends to play when it takes over the presidency, Bakoyannis said that Greece offered its good services and tried to promote ideas that support peace and cooperation in the region. On her arrival in Tel Aviv early on Thursday afternoon where she will end her Middle East tour, Bakoyannis met Israeli defence minister Amir Peretz and Jerusalem Patriarch Theophilos, while she was scheduled to attend a dinner given in her honour by Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Thursday night. (ANA-MPA photo of Greek Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis being received by King Abdullah II of Jordan, in Amman on Thursday) Athens News Agency: News in English Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |