INSPIRATION FOR PEACE IN MIDEAST MUST COME FROM LEADERS, SAYS SECRETARY-GENERAL
The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:
The Secretary-General is appalled by the rising toll of carnage between Israelis and Palestinians and by the increasingly aggressive rhetoric.� The situation has clearly got completely out of hand, and the risks are great.� The Secretary-General’s heart goes out to all who are suffering, especially the families of the innocent civilians who have been killed or injured.
The Secretary-General believes that, at this critical juncture, the leaders of the two sides must ask themselves where the current escalating cycle of violence, reprisal and revenge is leading.� In his view, the Israeli and Palestinian peoples will only lose if the present drift towards disaster is allowed to continue.� The Secretary-General remains convinced that there can be no military solution.
The Secretary-General wishes to remind Israeli and Palestinian leaders that they have a special and urgent responsibility to chart a path back to negotiations leading to a peaceful settlement of the conflict, without which there will be no security for either people.� Third parties stand ready to help in any way they can.� But the inspiration for peace and a settlement must come from the leaders.� They have a responsibility to lead.� History will judge them harshly, and their people will not absolve them, if they fail to do so.
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