NZ offers cautious support to Middle East ceasefire

Foreign Minister Phil Goff said the moves were encouraging. Picture / Fotopress

New Zealand politicians have cautiously welcomed a ceasefire declared between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

The ceasefire was declared at a summit in Egypt aimed at ending more than four years of bloodshed.

Though militants waging an uprising since 2000 said they were not bound by the truce, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon hailed a new chance for the Middle East.

Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister Phil Goff said it provided a chance for peace. New Zealand continued to support the 'road map' process -- involving direct dialogue and action between the parties -- but it would take time.

"However the positive atmosphere of the summit is encouraging, as are the genuine efforts of both sides to look for opportunities to advance the process," Mr Goff said.

Previous ceasefires had failed.

"On this occasion it is to be hoped that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority will not be deterred by any acts that might be perpetrated by extremists intent on derailing the current agreement.

"This opportunity to build a lasting peace is too valuable to lose."

Progressive Deputy Leader Matt Robson urged US President George Bush to use his influence to get the Israeli Government to abandon settlements on the West Bank and stop a segregation wall being built through communities.

Mr Robson -- also chairman of the New Zealand Parliament-Palestine Legislative Council Friendship Group of MPs -- said: "Random acts of violence which kill, injure and hurt innocent people, committed by extremists on both sides to this conflict over the past century or so, are of course another obstacle to lasting peace."

Addressing the underlying injustice of dispossession and statelessness was the most effect way of stopping the violence, he said.

New Zealand Jewish Council president David Zwartz today said he was hopeful the ceasefire would end violence and eventually lead to peace.

"This is the first step, and the absence of violence is a really important thing to bolster because both sides have suffered very much from it. So I'm still optimistic we are definitely going down the right path with this agreement."

Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Keith Locke welcomed the ceasefire but said Israel should do more than it was proposing.

"To make any real progress, the Sharon government has to stop building the wall between Israelis and Palestinians and has to make serious concessions on removing the settlements, giving Palestinians rights in East Jerusalem and removing troops, not just from some towns but from West Bank towns as a whole," he said.

- NZPA