French minister calls for Israel to freeze settlements, Palestinians to stop rocket fire

BETHLEHEM, West Bank: The creation of a viable Palestinian state is in Israel's interest, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said during a tour of the biblical town of Bethlehem on Saturday.

Kouchner urged tourists from around the world to visit Jesus' traditional birthplace, as part of efforts to revive the battered Palestinian economy. In December, France co-hosted a pledging conference in which international donors promised to pay $7.7 billion (€5.3 billion) in aid to the Palestinians over three years.

In Bethlehem, Kouchner met with the mayor, visited a peace center and toured a French hospital.

Later Saturday, he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in the West Bank town of Ramallah and he is to hold talks Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and President Shimon Peres.

At a joint news conference with Fayyad, Kouchner called for a Palestinian state to be set up "as quickly as possible" and told journalists he would ask the Israelis to make their best effort to help bring that about. He also said he would press Israel to freeze settlement activity.

"France's position is clear," Kouchner said. "That is that the peace process cannot move forward while settlement activity continues."

Palestinians were angered this week by news that nine Israeli families had staked out new homesteads deep in the West Bank and had pledged to bring more settlers to the area that the Palestinians want for a future state. Their charges of bad faith over the move were further fueled by a report that the Israeli government has awarded contracts for more Jewish housing in a contentious east Jerusalem neighborhood.

When first announced in December, plans for the homes drew criticism from the U.S. and marred peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians as they were getting under way.

In Bethlehem Saturday, Kouchner said he started his visit there because the town is a symbol of peace and hope. "I know that the population all around is suffering .... but I hope we will get a better day," he said. "I hope that here in Bethlehem, tourists from all over the world will come back to see the Church of the Nativity."

Bethlehem was hit hard by violence and Israeli travel restrictions during recent years of conflict, but tourism has recovered slightly in the past two years.

Kouchner said he believes peace is inevitable. "This is the only way ... also for Israel to be secure, living close to a Palestinian state," he said.

In an interview with the Palestinian daily Al Quds, published Saturday, Kouchner called for Gaza's borders be reopened. Israel and Egypt severely restricted access to the territory after the Islamic militant Hamas seized control by force in June.

"We are calling to remove the blockade on Gaza because there must be movement for goods and people," he said. "The economic and humanitarian situation in Gaza is bad, and the siege is affecting the economy in general, and also the living conditions."

In remarks after meeting Abbas in Ramallah, Kouchner repeated his concerns about Gaza but also called for Palestinians to stop their constant rocket attacks from the strip into Israel.

"This unbearable situation in Gaza cannot go on, but we also think it is necessary to stop launching rockets at Israel because this is not helping," he said.

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Associated Press writer Dalia Nammari in Ramallah contributed to this report.

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