LOC18:13
15:13 GMT
PARIS, Dec 7 (KUNA) -- Despite past indications that France could do so if
Middle East talks stalled, French officials said Tuesday that they "did not
want to anticipate discussions between the parties" and they would not
recognize an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders at this
time.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero noted that the principle of a
Palestinian state had been agreed by the European Union in Berlin in 1999.
"Within this perspective, we want a resumption of peace talks, which must
address all questions; the final status, the setting out of the parameters of
a Palestinian state and allow for its creation. We want a viable Palestinian
state, which means with 1967 borders, with exchanges of territory."
Valero was reacting to a KUNA question on France's position on Palestinian
statehood after three Latin American countries said they were going ahead and
recognizing Palestine as a state.
Israel has strongly protested the move Monday by Brazil, Argentina and
Uruguay, which said they will recognize the Palestinian state within its 1967
borders, an area under Palestinian control before Israel occupied large tracts
of Arab land and also Jerusalem over 40 years ago.
"We support the construction of this future state and the setting up of its
institutions," Valero said of plans to establish a Palestinian nation once the
stalled and ailing peace talks are concluded.
The French official noted that to bolster its support for the emerging
Palestinian state, France has upgraded the diplomatic ranking of the
Palestinian representative in France and the "delegation" had been upgraded to
a "mission" with a full ambassador who handed in his credentials to President
Nicolas Sarkozy last week.
This, however, is far from what was hinted at several times by former
Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner before he left office last month, when he
had said France would seriously consider unilateral recognition of Palestine
if the peace process did not make progress and obliquely, it was hinted, if
Israel did not halt illegal settlement-building. (end)
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