Israeli, Palestinian Ministers Discuss Foot And Mouth
RAMALLAH, West Bank, March 19 (News Agencies) - In the first meeting of ministers from Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's new government and the Palestinian Authority, agriculture chiefs discussed Monday the discovery of foot and mouth disease in the West Bank.
"The meeting was on the advent of foot and mouth disease. We agreed that there must be cooperation on this issue," Palestinian agriculture minister Hikmat Zeid told AFP.
The meeting took place between Zeid and his Israeli counterpart Shalom Simhon following the Palestinian disclosure Friday that 13 cases of foot-and-mouth had been found among sheep in the West Bank.
Israel supplied the Palestinians with 200,000 doses of foot-and-mouth vaccine Sunday, media reports said, but did not receive requested blood samples from the infected animals.
The Palestinians have complained that Israel's military closure of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in place for nearly six months, has limited their ability to gather information about the extent of the foot-and-mouth problem.
"The Palestinians asked to have more freedom of movement to deal with this situation and there was understanding on this issue and the Israelis promised to cooperate," Zeid said.
The two ministers met at the agriculture ministry office south of Tel Aviv, Israeli public radio said.
Jordan on Sunday banned livestock and meat imports from the neighboring Palestinian territories amid growing fear of a regional spread of the disease.
So far, foot and mouth has also been found in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Iran.
