Edition: 329
Spain’s Foreign Minister, Ana Palacio, has just paid a four-day official visit to the U.S.A., where she held talks with Secretary of State Colin Powell about Iraq and the situation in the Middle East, bilateral ties and U.S. relations with the European Union. Sra. Palacio and Mr. Powell described their discussions as “very positive”, although it is reported that the Spanish government differs from the Bush administration on various points including the role of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in finding a solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict. Spain is therefore believed to be putting pressure on the U.S. authorities to view the situation differently. Whereas the U.S. and Israel believe Mr. Arafat is now irrelevant because he has proved himself unable or unwilling to stop terrorism, Spain believes he should be involved in the peace process as a reference figure, although not in the same governing role as before. The Foreign Minister was also scheduled to meet the secretary-general of the Organisation of American States, Cesar Gavira, before she flew home, and was expected to stress Spain’s belief that the U.S. government should pay more attention to problems in Venezuela and Cuba now that the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts are no longer taking up most of its time .
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