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U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan spoke to Palestinian and Syrian presidents to try to obtain the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier. (AP)
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| By Associated Press June 28, 2006 |
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U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he spoke to the Palestinian and Syrian presidents on Tuesday to try to obtain the release of a kidnapped Israeli soldier and to defuse a situation that could lead to civil war.
Annan said he hoped to talk to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Wednesday to try to prevent an escalation of violence.
"I have urged restraint on all parties," he told reporters.
Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit's kidnapping in a bold cross-border raid on Sunday by Hamas' military wing and two other Hamas-linked groups has threatened to turn the already devastated relations between Israel and the Hamas-led government into an all-out war.
Annan said if Palestinian negotiators from the ruling Hamas movement had reached an agreement with President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah Party "that will require them to work together, and avoid the kind of development which was ebbing towards civil war that we were all worried about, then of course we should all be very happy about it."
The secretary-general said he spoke to Abbas Tuesday afternoon about "the situation on the ground, the kidnapping of the Israeli soldier, the need to release him and try and de-escalate." He said Abbas "was quite positive."
Annan said he spoke to Syrian President Bashar Assad on Tuesday morning "because of the presence of the Hamas faction in Syria."
"When I spoke to president Bashar, we were all trying to find ways of helping defuse the situation," he said.
"I was talking to anyone who might have influence on this situation to play a role and use their influence to ensure that the prisoner was released, and that we are able to defuse the situation," Annan said, "and I think this is also what the leadership under president Abbas would like to see."
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