Prodi urges Palestinians, Israelis to swap prisoners

[WhiteTara]

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=2&article_id=77655

Remember when it was our country that urged peace? Oh how I long for that day to return. But Here's to any government that urges peace and not war


Italian Premier Romano Prodi on Wednesday advocated prisoner exchanges as a confidence-building measure and called for direct talks between his Israeli counterpart and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. Prodi made the remarks at a joint news conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who called on the international community to coordinate efforts to prevent Iran from building nuclear weapons.

"It is necessary to attempt a discussion on the exchange of prisoners," Prodi said, adding that he would raise the issue at Thursday's summit of the European Union.

Prodi has long said that small steps are needed to restart the peace process in the Middle East, and a prisoner exchange is seen by the Italian leader as one such step.

As for an encounter between the Israeli and Palestinian leaders, "I hope and will apply pressure so that that this meeting can happen soon," Prodi said. "Direct talks are extremely important."
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