China on Wednesday called on Israel to pull all its troops out of the Palestinian territories and take steps to ensure safety and security of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Wang Yingfan, the Chinese permanent representative to the United Nations, made the appeal while exchanging views on the current Middle East situation with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
The Chinese government opposes and condemns the barbarous aggression of Palestine by Israel, and China calls on Israel to implement relevant UN Security Council resolutions immediately and without any condition, he said.
During the meeting, Wang briefed Annan on the current efforts by the Chinese government to alleviate the Middle East tensions.
The Chinese envoy also told Annan that he hosted discussions on the situation in the Middle East among ambassadors from the five permanent members of the Security Council in his capacity of the rotatory mediator for April.
China supports the United Nations and its Security Council to play a greater role in restoring peace in the Middle East, Wang said, adding that he appreciates the peace efforts by Annan and his special representative for the Middle East.
The Chinese side is continuing consultations and discussions on the Middle East issue with all parties, including other four permanent members of the Security Council, he said, adding that China will continue to work with the international community in playing a positive role to alleviate the current Middle East tensions.
In return, Annan said that he appreciates the Chinese efforts to ease the tensions in the Middle East and he is ready to keep close contacts with China on the issue.
Annan said that he was deeply concerned with the worsening situation in the Middle East, and he held that the parties in the Middle East conflict should take effective measures to immediately carry out the Security Council resolutions.
(Xinhua News Agency April 4, 2002)
