BRUSSELS: EU foreign ministers have welcomed Israel's dropping of its demand for seven days without violence before talks can start with the Palestinian Authority. They expressed concern at the conduct of Zimbabwe's presidential elections but stopped short of issuing a statement condemning the poll as invalid.
At a meeting in Brussels, the ministers heard that almost all EU-funded installations in the Palestinian Authority have been destroyed by Israeli shelling.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said that a hospital was almost all that remained of the EU-funded projects. "I think it is an awful state of affairs. Because of the policies being pursued, they have practically all been destroyed," he said.
The ministers expressed satisfaction at Mr Ariel Sharon's decision to lift restrictions on the movements of the Palestinian leader, Mr Yasser Arafat. Germany's Foreign Minister, Mr Joschka Fischer, said that the two sides should start peace negotiations without delay.
"In this tragic conflict, in which two peoples are fighting over the same land, the only path is that of compromise and reconciliation," he said.
The ministers heard a report on the elections in Zimbabwe that detailed numerous abuses and irregularities, including the introduction of laws that disadvantaged the opposition. They expressed concern at restrictions placed on the movement of election monitors and at the imbalance between the number of polling stations in urban and rural areas.
But the ministers rejected a British proposal to condemn the elections as unfair, preferring to wait for the outcome before making a formal statement.
The ministers remembered the attacks on New York and Washington six months ago with a statement reaffirming the EU's commitment to fight international terrorism. But there were signs of tension over how Europe should respond to a US decision to target Iraq in the next phase of its "war against terrorism".
Britain is expected to back any US action against Iraq but other member-states have expressed concern. Belgium's Foreign Minister, Mr Louis Michel, suggested that the EU should send a high-level mission to Baghdad in an attempt to avert a US attack. "It is timely for the EU to take an initiative to convince Iraq to respect all relevant Security Council resolutions and to allow access for weapons inspectors," he said.