SG/SM/8064
5 December 2001

SECRETARY-GENERAL, CONCERNED BY CYCLE OF VIOLENCE
IN MIDDLE EAST, URGES ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS
TO LIVE UP TO EARLIER COMMITMENTS

NEW YORK, 4 December (UN Headquarters) -- The following Statement was issued today by the Spokesman for Secretary-General Kofi Annan:

The Secretary-General is increasingly concerned about the ongoing vicious cycle of violence and retaliation in the Middle East. He continues to believe that there can be no alternative to a peaceful settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The Secretary-General urges both sides to live up to their commitments to implement the Mitchell report and the Tenet understandings, and to avoid any action that could make the search for a way out of the present crisis more difficult.

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