EU Urges US to Step Back in Mideast
Wed Apr 3, 7:19 PM ET
By ROBERT WIELAARD, Associated Press Writer
LUXEMBOURG (AP) - The European Union will send a high-level mission to the Middle East to urge Israel and the Palestinians to end the fighting and move toward peace negotiations, officials said Wednesday.
The move came hours after top EU official Romano Prodi criticized U.S. peace efforts, asking Washington to stand down and make room for other nations to try their hand at mediating an end to the conflict.
"It is clear (American) mediation efforts have failed and we need new mediation" before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict balloons into an all-out regional war, European Commission (news - web sites) President Romano Prodi told reporters in Brussels.
Prodi said the peace process should be widened to include not only the United States, but also the European Union, the United Nations, Russia and moderate Arab states.
