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Chirac warns peace timetable must be respected

CAIRO: French President Jacques Chirac on Monday warned Israel to respect its agreements with the Palestinians as he vowed to make Europe a "co-sponsor" in the peace process.

"Commitments already signed must be respected, and the agreed timetable adhered to," Chirac said in an address at Cairo university.

"There will be no durable peace unless the rights and legitimate aspirations of the Palestinians are respected," he said, calling for a "fair and balanced accord between all parties on the final status of the Palestinian territories."

"This accord must also deal with the most difficult questions of Jerusalem, the situation of the refugees and the fate of the settlements," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, facing a May 29 general election, has taken a tougher line with the Palestinians after a wave of bombings begun in late February killed 62 people and plunged the peace process into crisis.

He has since ordered a delay in a scheduled withdrawal of Israeli troops from the flashpoint town of Hebron and in the start of final status talks with the Palestinians, due to begin in May under the Oslo accords.

Peres also ruled out any division of Jerusalem or removal of Jewish settlements in the territories, while halting talks with Syria.

"The peace process must be restarted, with the interests and security needs of each side taken into account," Chirac added.

"1996 has to be a decisive year. Syria and Israel must conclude a peace. The bases of an agreement are clear: a total retreat from the Golan inreturn for a total peace," he said.

Chirac said Europe must "no longer be just be a dispenser of funds" but "should bring more than ever its political contribution to a peace solution in which it should be a co-sponsor."

France's Arab policy "should be an essential dimension of its foreign policy. I hope to give it a new vitality," Chirac said.

"We are committed to the (Arabs') right to free determination of their fate, their independence and their right to security. We support the aspirations of the Arab world to peace and openness," he said.

"France hopes to share this great Arab policy with all of Europe," he said, adding: "The European and Arab worlds are links by a common fate and interests."

Chirac said the "complete eradication of the terrorist threat nourished by isolation, bitterness and frustration" can only come by "the affirmation of the Palestinian identity."

France has stood alongside Egypt in the March 13 "Summit of the Peacemakers" and later follow-up meetings, pushing for emphasis on the peace process over the US and Israel's focus on "Palestinian terrorism".

Chirac gave the speech as he wound up a Middle East trip which also took him to Lebanon.-APP