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G8 meeting goes well
24/06/2005 07:48 - (SA)
Ed Johnson
London - Foreign ministers from the world's leading industrialised nations reached agreement on wide-ranging issues, from Afghanistan's narcotic production to Israel's withdrawal from the Palestinian territories.
The Group of Eight nations also urged North Korea to resume dialogue on its nuclear programme, called on Iran not to resume its uranium enrichment activities and condemned human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
United States secretary of state Condoleezza Rice insisted Israel's disengagement from Gaza must be peaceful, and urged Middle Eastern countries not to turn a blind eye to terrorism.
Less than two months away from Israel's withdrawal from all 21 Jewish settlements on the Gaza Strip and four in the West Bank, the Middle East peace process dominated much of the daylong summit Thursday in London.
Not turn a blind eye
There are fears the pullout could lead to an escalation of violence if Palestinian militants fire at settlers leaving their homes or at security forces carrying out the mass evacuation.
Rice, in London after a tour of the region, called on the Palestinian authority to rein in militants and said neighbouring countries must fight terrorism.
"There cannot be a blind eye to the activities of states that are supporting terrorist groups whether it be the Syrians, the Palestinians, Islamic Jihad which is headquartered in Damascus, or the Iranians who have never supported the peace process and continue to support terrorists," she said.
Syria hosts the headquarters of the Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and also has close ties with the Lebanese guerrilla group Hezbollah, which is also supported by Iran.
Earlier on Thursday, Rice met with top officials from Russia, the European Union and the United Nations to discuss the road map to peace in the Middle East.
The so-called Quartet said in a statement the Gaza withdrawal should revitalise the road map peace process and encouraged the two sides to "move closer to the goal of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security."
Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah joined the G8 talks, which discussed how to stem the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan.
The country last year supplied more than 90% of the world's opium, the raw material for heroin, sparking warnings that the country was turning into a narco-state just three years after the fall of the Taliban.
The G8 ministers urged North Korea to resume six-party disarmament talks with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States. A statement released by Straw, who chaired the summit, said "North Korea's record of WMD-related activities ... remains of profound concern" to G8 nations.
The close of summit statement also fully supported diplomatic efforts led by Britain, France and Germany to persuade Iran to abandon its uranium enrichment activities.
- SAPA
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