Netanyahu Israeli FM seeks more than just talk ...
China's ICBC says 2008 profit up ... is first to meet for talks with his Italian counterpart, Silvio Berlusconi, on Tuesday to discuss the situation in the Middle East, especially the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
He will also be discussing the violence that erupted in Iran following the June 12 presidential elections there. "Above all, the prime minister is planning to bring up the Iranian dossier," a senior government official told news agency AFP.
"The scenes of violence and repression of the past days have lifted the mask of the bloody regime that doesn't hesitate to fire on unarmed protesters," said the official, requesting anonymity.
"With what is happening now in Iran, words and condemnations are not enough, the world must decide to take much harder measures to prevent the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear arms," he said.
Italy is one of Iran's biggest trade partners in Europe, and Israel has in the past asked Rome to use its economic ties to put pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear program.
In Rome, Netanyahu is expected to ask Italy once again to reconsider its commercial links with the Islamic Republic.
Settlement question Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Jewish settlements have been built and bulldozed in Gaza On Wednesday, the Israeli premier is slated to meet Italian President Girogio Napolitano before travelling to Paris for talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. He will also holds talks with US Middle East envoy George Mitchell.
Netanyahu, who took office after February elections, will not make the journey to European heavyweight Germany during his trip, but told German daily
Bild he hoped to visit soon.
In an interview published Monday and Tuesday, he said he planned to accept an invitation from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who he said he greatly admired, adding that she was a truly reliable friend of Israel.
The contentious issue of Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank is also likely to be discussed during Netanyahu's trip, with reports Tuesday the Jewish state has authorized the building of as many as 300 new homes in the region.
The move would flout calls by the international community, in particular the US, for Israel to abandon new settlements in the West Bank in a bid to revive peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
Half a million Jews live in settlements and outposts constructed in the West Bank and Arab East Jerusalem, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war.
dfm/dpa/AFP/AP
Editor: Trinity Hartman
(Deutsche Welle)
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