'EU will move to end blockade'
By ASSOCIATED PRESS, JPOST.COM STAFF
LAST UPDATED: 06/12/2010 14:58
Spain to propose EU exert pressure on Israel to end Gaza blockade.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, speaks Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
Spain will propose the European Union exert strong diplomatic
pressure on Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip, the country's Prime
Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said on Saturday.
The Spanish prime
minister said at a joint press conference with Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas that Spain wants to "forge a strong common position" with
EU countries in the face of the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
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Zapatero
said Spain's Foreign Minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, would propose
the EU deploy "all its political and diplomatic capability" to end the
Gaza blockade at its foreign affairs council on Monday.
He
said he was confident European countries would back the proposal, as well
as efforts by White House Middle East envoy George Mitchell to try and rebuild trust
between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.
In the days following the Gaza flotilla raid, Abbas called for the UN
Security Council to protect the
Palestinians and end the blockade on Gaza.