By ASSOCIATED PRESSThe EU was locked Monday in a dispute with Arab nations over an anti-terrorism code of conduct it hoped to publish later in the day at the end of a two-day Euro-Mediterranean summit.
Sources said the dispute was jeopardizing plans to issue the anti-terrorism declaration - and two other statements - by the 25 EU nations, Israel and its Arab neighbors.
The draft text of the "Code of Conduct on Countering Terrorism" declared "all peoples have the right of self-determination," but that "terrorist attacks cannot be justified or legitimized by any cause or grievance."
Arab delegates sought to add an important qualification, proposing text that said nothing in the anti-terrorism code contradicts "the right of peoples under foreign occupation to strive to end it in accordance with international law."
The EU and Israel objected, insisting terrorism can never be justified. Diplomats worked into the night of Sunday to Monday. When the leaders returned for a second day of talks Monday, there was still no agreement.