EU halts upgrade of ties to Israel |
|
The European Union called a halt on Wednesday to plans to upgrade diplomatic and economic ties with Israel, as Egypt stepped up efforts to secure a 10-day ceasefire to provide a first step to ending the Gaza war.
In the latest sign of the international backlash against Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which has left more than 1,000 Palestinians dead, Ramiro Cibrian-Uzal, head of a European Commission delegation to Israel, said upgrading ties at a time when Israel was "using its war means in a very dramatic, in a powerful way in Gaza" was "not appropriate".
The EU move came as Egyptian officials said they had made progress in talks with a delegation from Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip, and suggested that the strategy was to reach a 10-day ceasefire.
Hamas has been seeking changes to the initiative launched by Cairo last week, which calls for a temporary ceasefire and talks on how to end the blockade of Gaza and prevent the Islamist group from rearming.
Hamas officials said they had given their views on the initiative and expected Egypt to discuss them with Israel. But an Egyptian official said the positions of Cairo and Hamas were narrowing.
Amos Gilad, a senior Israeli defence official, is travelling to Cairo on Thursday for talks. But a spokesman for Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, said the government was "not interested in some form of temporary ceasefire that will only allow Hamas to rearm and that will end with another rocket barrage on Israel".
European officials said the "time-out" on upgrading ties with Israel was not intended as a sanction and had been mutually agreed with Israel. But it did reflect the widespread dismay at Israel's conduct in the conflict.
Brussels decided to open talks with Israel over upgrading relations in December, despite protests from Palestinian and Arab leaders. The precise nature of the upgrade had yet to be determined, but the EU was holding out the prospect of a regular political dialogue, Israeli participation in EU programmes and agencies and closer integration into the European single market for goods and services.
Egypt is under huge pressure to broker a speedy ceasefire and assert its position as the regional leader that can speak for the Palestinians and act in their interests.
Cairo has been feeling the heat from rivals such as Qatar, which has been pressing for an emergency Arab summit. Analysts say this would give it an opportunity to embarrass Egypt and Saudi Arabia, US allies.
Many in the region accuse Cairo of colluding with Israel in its offensive by keeping the Egyptian border with Gaza closed to everything except humanitarian supplies.
Qatar was attempting to host a summit on Friday but, in an apparent bid to pre-empt it, Saudi Arabia announced its own summit for Gulf leaders on Thursday to discuss Gaza.
Osama bin Laden, leader of the al-Qaeda terror group, also entered the fray on Wednesday. A recorded message on the internet called on Muslims to rally in support of the Palestinians in Gaza, and lashed out at Arab governments that he said were largely "allied with the Crusader-Zionist coalition".
By Tobias Buck and Andrew England in Jerusalem and Heba Saleh in Cairo
© Financial Times 2009
-
Zawya encourages you to add a comment to this discussion. You agree that when you add content to this discussion your comments will not:
1.1 Contain any material which is libelous or defamatory of any person, is obscene, offensive, hateful or inflammatory or causes damage to the reputation of any person or organisation.
1.2 Promote sexually explicit material, violence, discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age or any illegal activity.
1.3 Be made in breach of any legal duty owed to a third party, such as a contractual duty or a duty of confidence.
1.4 Be threatening, abuse or invade another's privacy, or cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety.
1.5 Be used to impersonate any person, to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person, or be likely to deceive any person.
1.6 Give the impression that they represent Zawya.
1.7 Advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act such as (by way of example only) copyright infringement or computer misuse. - The content posted on www.zawya.com is created by members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of Zawya. Zawya reserves the right to review all comments prior to posting and edit or delete any contribution, but Zawya is not responsible for and can not be held liable for any content posted by members of the public on www.zawya.com.
- Zawya is not responsible for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through www.zawya.com. Any links to third party websites from www.zawya.com do not amount to any endorsement of that site by Zawya and any use of that site by you is at your own risk.
- By submitting your comment, you hereby give Zawya the right, but not the obligation, to post, air, edit, exhibit, telecast, webcast, re-use, publish, reproduce, use, license, print, distribute or otherwise use your comments worldwide, in perpetuity.
Loading ...
from issuers in both public and private sectors. It is not an e-tendering service and is entirely FREE.
As an Issuer, you can benefit from posting an unlimited number of Tender
Notices for FREE and reaching out to an online community of bidders.
The service also offers you a tool to track the interest of bidders to your
tenders 'live' online.
| Tender Notice | Due Date |
Stories
Companies
| Company Name | Country | Industry |
| Consolidated Contractors Company | Overseas | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Telecom | Saudi Arabia | Telecommunications Services |
| Saudi Binladin Group | Saudi Arabia | Construction and Design |
| Saudi Electricity Company | Saudi Arabia | Electric Utilities |
| Emirates Aluminium Company | UAE | Metal Production |
| Roads and Transport Authority - Dubai | UAE | Regulatory and Administrative Bodies |
| Commercial International Bank (Egypt) | Egypt | Banking |
| Pepsi Cola International (Middle East) | Region-wide | Beverages |
| Dodsal Engineering and Construction | UAE | Construction and Design |
| Emirates Telecommunications Corporation | UAE | Telecommunications Services |
Projects
| Project Name | Country | Sector |
| Takreer - Ruwais Refinery Expansion | UAE | Oil and Gas |
| Emirates Aluminium (EMAL) - Smelter Complex - Phase 1 | UAE | Industry |
| ENEC - Nuclear Power Plant | UAE | Power and Water |
| Abu Dhabi DOT - Abu Dhabi Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| Dubai RTA - Dubai Metro | UAE | Infrastructure |
| SATORP - Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |
| Al Safwa - Jeddah Cement Plant | Saudi Arabia | Industry |
| Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation - Qatar Bahrain Causeway | Bahrain | Infrastructure |
| Qatar Bahrain Causeway Foundation - Qatar Bahrain Causeway | Qatar | Infrastructure |
| SATORP- Jubail Refinery and Petrochemical Complex - Conversion Unit and Sulphur Package (Part 2) | Saudi Arabia | Oil and Gas |







Loading ...