SECRETARY-GENERAL EXPRESSES HOPE THAT LATEST MIDEAST VIOLENCE

WILL NOT DETER PARTIES FROM SEEKING POLITICAL SOLUTION

The following statement was issued today by the Office of the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General is encouraged by the ongoing high-level efforts, facilitated by General Zinni and other members of the Quartet, to secure a durable and lasting ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinians.  He urges all sides to persevere with these discussions and to seize this unique moment to return to the negotiating table through implementation of the Tenet and Mitchell plans.

The Secretary-General is appalled by today’s suicide bomb attack which killed seven passengers on a bus in northern Israel.  He expresses his deepest condolences to the families concerned.  The Secretary-General hopes that this terrorist act, which he condemns in the strongest terms, will not deter the parties from the path of seeking an agreement to end violence and from devoting every effort to the attainment of a political solution.

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