“I would like to see an armed peacekeeping force act as a buffer between the Israelis and Palestinians," Annan

OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, June 13 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan called for the dispatch of an international peacekeeping force to stem the spiraling violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an interview published Friday, June 13.

Annan told the Israeli newspaper Ha’aretz that the intervention of U.S. monitors to shepherd through President George W. Bush's "road map" for peace probably would not be enough to bring an immediate halt to the bloodshed.

"The monitoring mechanism that will be put in place next week is a beginning and it may be enough if the parties are able to break the cycle of violence," the UN chief said.

"In the interim, I would like to see an armed peacekeeping force act as a buffer between the Israelis and Palestinians," he told Ha’aretz in New York.

He made his remarks as senior U.S. diplomat John Wolf was expected in the Middle East to begin overseeing implementation of the roadmap launched at a June 4 summit convened by Bush in Aqaba, Jordan.

Prospects for peace have since been set back by an explosion of violence that has left more than 60 people dead, with Israel and the main Palestinian resistance group Hamas declaring all-out war on each other.

Annan said the international community had to back efforts by the new Palestinian Prime Minister, Mahmud Abbas, to try to end bombing operations, such as the attack on a Jerusalem bus Wednesday that killed 17 Israelis. The operation came a day after a failed assassination attempt on the life of Hamas political spokesman Abdul-Aziz al-Rantissi that drew world-wide condemnation, even from Washington.

The Palestinians have been urging the international community to dispatch a peacekeeping force to protect them from “the aggressions committed by the Israeli occupation forces”. But Israel has repeatedly refused to accept the Idea. At more than one occasion, Washington had to veto resolutions by the UN security Council authorizing the dispatch of such force.

On Thursday, CNN reported that Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, and others on Capitol Hill called for some type of peacekeeping forces, perhaps from NATO, to be sent the Palestinian territories.

U.S. officials said the Pentagon did not like the idea of any further deployments of U.S. troops at a time the military is already stretched by deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere.

The UN Secretary General also disputed the decision by the United States and Israel to try to sideline Palestine leader Yasser Arafat from the peace process, saying he has "not been entirely negative."

It would be better "to encourage him (Arafat) to work for the peace process and to work to support Mr. Abbas. They need to work together for the effort to succeed," Annan said.