White House seeks Israeli soldier's release

Mon Jun 26, 2:49 PM ET

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration called Monday for the release of an abducted Israeli soldier and urged Israel and the Palestinians to exercise restraint amid growing tensions in Gaza.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice spoke over the weekend with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while American diplomats conferred with Egyptian, Israeli and Palestinian officials.

"There are a lot of different parties working to resolve the issue," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said. "But the bottom line is we call upon this individual to be released immediately."

Israel massed troops Monday along the Gaza border in preparation for what Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said would be a "broad and ongoing" operation against Palestinian militants following the abduction of the Israeli soldier, Cpl. Gilad Shalit.

Three Palestinian groups purporting to hold him demanded the release from Israeli prisons of women and those under age 18.

Through McCormack, the State Department condemned the abduction.

"What we would urge is that all sides exercise restraint and avoid steps which further escalate the situation," the State Department official said. "As we have said all along, it is the responsibility of the Palestinian Authority government to stop all acts of violence."

The Authority is dominated by Hamas, a Palestinian group designated by the State Department as a terrorist organization. The Bush administration has been trying to work around Hamas by dealing as much as possible with the more moderate Abbas.

"I think President Abbas wants to see this individual released, and certainly the secretary reinforced that idea as well," McCormack said.

Source

About headlines and content that has changed after it was added to this site - see disclaimer here

FAIR USE NOTICE

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.