The exacerbation of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontation, again having led to casualties among the civilian population on both sides, has brought Israel and the Palestinian National Authority to the beginning of a new stage of the conflict, capable of developing into a large-scale war.

The implementation of the Palestinian-Israeli agreements reached in recent years, particularly in Oslo, are in danger of being wrecked. The Middle East is again becoming a flash-point of sharp international tension, and a source of serious threat to the stability of the world community as a whole.

The root cause of the events taking place lies in the unsettledness of the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict and its pivotal - Palestinian - problem.

The basis for attaining peace in the Middle East is the Madrid principles, as well as UN Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). A comprehensive Arab-Israeli settlement must provide for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from the occupied territories, the realization of the Palestinians' national rights, including a right to self-determination and the creation of their own state, a just solution of the refugees problem, and the ensuring of equal and stable security for all the states of the region and the peoples inhabiting them - the Arabs and Israelis alike.

The State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation welcomes the adoption by the UN Security Council of resolution 1397 (2002) confirming Palestine's statehood and the need for the coexistence of Palestine and Israel within recognized borders. Simultaneously the State Duma notes that decisions of the international community on the exceptionally complicated Middle East problem should be worked out jointly by the cosponsors of the peace process. Rivalry in this field is counterproductive, and therefore impermissible.

The State Duma favors expeditiously sending international observers into the zone of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict under the auspices of the United Nations. Their presence can play a considerable role in normalizing the situation in the Middle East and will substantially ease the efforts by Israel and the Palestinian National Authority in the struggle against terrorism.

It is necessary to withdraw Israeli troops to the line that existed before the exacerbation of the situation, to end extrajudicial executions and strikes at the Palestinian territories, to freeze settlement activity, to ensure the complete freedom of movement of the Head of the Palestinian National Authority, Yasser Arafat, and to give him an opportunity to effectively participate in resolving the conflict.

The State Duma condemns the violent actions leading to deaths of civilians, from whichever they may emanate.

Deputies of the State Duma support the measures to end the activity of extremist organizations and to arrest persons involved in the preparation of terrorist acts that have been taken by the Palestinian National Authority and appeal to it to continue to take vigorous, effective steps in this direction, including the suppression of calls for violence.

Considering it necessary to at once resume the negotiation process as the only instrument for resolving the Palestinian problem, the State Duma supports the Tenet-Mitchell scheme for normalizing the situation around the Palestinian territories.

Recognizing the importance of the endeavor by the Russian Federation, the United States of America and the European Union to achieve a political settlement in the Middle East, the State Duma expresses support for the position of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and is in favor of enhancing the effectiveness of inter-parliamentary cooperation for the purpose of facilitating the solution of the Middle East problem via dialogues between the Federal Assembly - the parliament of the Russian Federation - and the parliaments of the states of the region, the European Parliament, the Congress of the United States of America and the United Nations.

The State Duma hereby approaches UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, the European Parliament, the Congress of the United States of America, and the People's Assembly of the Arab Republic of Egypt with the proposal to effect the close coordination of efforts with a view to forcing the conflicting parties to peace.

The State Duma calls upon President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin and the Government of the Russian Federation to intensify the actions of the Russian Federation as a cosponsor of the Middle East peace process for the prevention of violence in the region and search of a solution to the Palestinian problem within the framework of the above UN Security Council resolutions.

Moscow, March 15, 2002


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© Publication of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.

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