USA: ISRAELI FM SHLOMO BEN-AMI VISIT (2) скачать в хорошем качестве

USA: ISRAELI FM SHLOMO BEN-AMI VISIT (2)

(2 Nov 2000) English/Nat As clashes between the Palestinians and the Israelis continue to claim lives, Israel's foreign minister branded the uprising on the West Bank a "mini-war." Emerging from a 90-minute meeting with U-S Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that focused on trying to end the fighting, Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami told reporters that it was not a civilian uprising or intafada, but a military confrontation. Declaring Israel wants to "open channels" with the Palestinians, Ben-Ami said: "We have had crises in the past and emerged with solutions. This cannot be ruled out." But the foreign minister took a somber view of the clashes on the West Bank in which three Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday. Ben-Ami then went to the White House and met for more than an hour with Sandy Berger, President Clinton's national security adviser. Talking to reporters on the sidewalk outside the State Department, he called it a "good meeting" and said he hoped Yasser Arafat and the Palestinians "will give the necessary instruction so the violence will stop." Ben-Ami is to due to be followed on Friday by senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat as Albright tries to persuade the two sides to pull back from confrontation as they agreed at a summit in Egypt two weeks ago. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak declared a time-out in negotiations last week so long as Palestinian rock-throwers and gunners kept targeting soldiers and settlements. On Tuesday, Arafat accused Israel of destroying the peace process. SOUNDBITE: (English) "I reviewed with the Secretary of State the situation on the ground and then we assessed what are the possibilities of getting out of this impasse in order to create the proper conditions for resuming the peace talks which is and remains the major objective here." SUPER CAPTION: Shlomo Ben-Ami, Israeli Foreign Minister SOUNDBITE: (English) "We are not confronting a so-called peaceful intifada. When army shoots at army it is something else it is a war or if you prefer a 'mini-war'. This is a war in many senses. The Palestinians are shooting at Israeli soldiers and therefore we need to address this issue not as a civilian uprising but as a military confrontation." SUPER CAPTION: Shlomo Ben-Ami, Israeli Foreign Minister Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...