Israel stops European consuls from entering Ramallah
Associated Press, Apr 2, 2002
Israel stops European consuls from entering Ramallah
Tue Apr 2, 7:52 AM ET
By YOAV APPEL, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM - Israeli soldiers on Thursday prevented a group of about
two dozen European diplomats from entering the besieged West Bank city
of Ramallah to check on European citizens living there.
The convoy of representatives from 14 European
Union (news - web sites) states was carrying food, water and medical supplies
for European citizens, said Swedish Consul-General Catherina Kipp. Some
foreigners want to leave Ramallah but cannot because of the Israeli incursion.
The Israeli army invaded Ramallah, just north of
Jerusalem, along with several other Palestinian cities and towns in the
West Bank following a spate of Palestinian suicide bombings that killed
scores of Israeli civilians.
The European consulates did not have precise figures
on the number of European residents in Ramallah. Kipp estimated there were
about 30 Swedes in the city.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nachshon
said the diplomats were blocked from entering Ramallah in order "to protect
their lives due to fighting in the city which has been forced on us by
Palestinian terror."
Foreigners who wished to leave Ramallah, which has
been under curfew, would be given the opportunity Tuesday afternoon, an
army spokesman said. The curfew would be lifted and foreigners would be
able to leave of their own accord, the spokesman said.
Outside the biblical town of Bethlehem, which Israeli
troops entered early Tuesday, a convoy of British and U.S. cars were blocked
from entering, a spokesman from the British Consulate said. The convoy
was trying to assist foreign citizens in the town, the spokesman said.
Kipp said that the Europeans in Ramallah had no
electricity and were suffering from food and water shortages. Requests
to the army to allow the diplomats entry were denied, she said, despite
pleas that foreigners were trapped in the city.
After their attempt to cross the checkpoint by foot
was blocked by soldiers silently manning the area at the mostly deserted
checkpoint, the representatives were forced to return to their convoy and
turn back.
"We are here to exert our consular rights, and to
be able to reach our citizens in Ramallah," the French Consul-General Denis
Pietton told reporters at gathered at the checkpoint outside the city.
"As you can see we are prevented from entering."
(ya-gm)
Copyright © 2002 The Associated Press
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