Speaking after a week of violence that threatens a
U.S.-backed "road map" for peace, French Foreign Minister
Dominique de Villepin said peacekeepers would only be sent with
the backing of the international community.
"Let's see what such a force could contribute on the
ground," Villepin told French radio station Radio J.
"If it appears that all the parties want it and that a
peacekeeping force would halt movements of terrorists or act in
such a way as to avoid raising the stakes, then let's do it."
Villepin, who is due to meet fellow European Union (news - web sites) foreign
ministers Monday, said he would ask EU countries to start
looking at the feasibility of sending a peacekeeping force.
Last week U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) told an Israeli
newspaper he thought dispatching an armed peacekeeping force to
the Middle East would help calm the troubled region, but
Secretary of State Colin Powell (news - web sites) last week ruled out sending
international peacekeepers.
The idea, first put forward by Annan more than three years
ago, was again embraced by the Palestinians and rejected by
Israel.
In an interview with Haaretz, Annan said Israelis and
Palestinians "are going to need help from a third party, and
given the environment on the ground, I think it is eventually
going to take a force."
Palestinian U.N. envoy Nasser al-Kidwa said the idea of
armed international observers was gaining support "and we hope
at some point this would be something to implement."
But Israeli Deputy Ambassador Arye Mekel told reporters the
only way to move the peace process forward was for Israelis and
Palestinians "to talk to each other."
"We certainly do not need any foreign forces there of any
nature. This is not a good idea," Mekel said.
