SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS THOSE RESORTING TO VIOLENCE, TERROR IN MIDDLE EAST; CALLS ON ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS TO DEVOTE ALL ENERGIES TO NEGOTIATING TRUE, LASTING PEACE

SECRETARY-GENERAL CONDEMNS THOSE RESORTING TO VIOLENCE, TERROR IN MIDDLE EAST; CALLS

ON ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS TO DEVOTE ALL ENERGIES TO NEGOTIATING TRUE, LASTING PEACE

The following statement was issued today by Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Brussels, Belgium:

Once again, violence and terror have claimed innocent lives in the Middle East.  Once again, I condemn those who resort to such methods.  Once again, I appeal, to Israelis and Palestinians alike to rise above feelings of anger and vengeance, however natural, and to devote all their energies to negotiating a true and lasting peace in which two peoples will live side by side, each in their own State.

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