(EU Observer-Belgium)Honor Mahony- The EU's representative in the Middle East, Marc Otte, has conceded that the controversial barrier being built by Israel in the West Bank has stopped Palestinian extremists from carrying out suicide attacks in Israel. "The barrier has drastically sunk the number of attacks," the Belgian diplomat told the Financial Times Deutschland, making him the first high-level EU diplomat to publicly say that the barrier has fulfilled its aim. He also singled out recent attacks by Hamas on Israeli villages with self-made rockets for particular criticism. "The Palestinians knew very well that, with these attacks - which killed two small children - they had crossed a red line." Otte said that the Palestinian leadership has for a long time not reacted at all to these regular rocket attacks.
2004-10-08 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive