EU debates talking to Palestinians

BRUSSELS, Sep 15 (Reuters) European Union foreign ministers debated today whether to engage with an emerging Palestinian national unity government after the United States said it opposed lifting an embargo on contacts and aid.

Brussels and Washington have boycotted the Hamas-led government established in March because the Islamist movement refuses to meet the demands of the Quartet of West Asia Peace brokers to recognise Israel's right to exist, renounce violence and accept past peace agreements.

But many European governments are anxious to end the stand-off, which has contributed to aggravated poverty and lawlessness in the Palestinian territories, and see a unity government as a way out.

''We have a new Palestinian government. We have a new situation, and we should use it to get back to the peace process,'' Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, chairing the EU meeting, told reporters on arrival.

A statement drafted by diplomats for the 25 ministers and subject to amendment in the meeting would welcome the announcement of a national unity government by President Mahmoud Abbas but stop short of committing the EU to ending the boycott.

Asked about signs of a shift in EU policy, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said yesterday there had been no change that would justify lifting the West's embargo.

''At this point, we don't see any qualitative change in this situation vis-a-vis the Palestinian Authority and its policies and therefore ... we would expect that the status quo as it stands should be unchanged,'' he told a briefing in Washington.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner told a news briefing it was necessary to see new government's platform before deciding how to proceed, but the EU should show flexibility, provided it ''reflected'' the demands of the Quartet -- the EU, the United States, Russia and the United Nations.

''FLEXIBLE'' ''It is clear we want to be firm on principles, but we should be flexible about the form this government chooses in the text,'' she said, adding that there were some encouraging signs.

Ferrero-Waldner said that as far as the EU knew, the interior, finance and external relations ministers of the new government might not be Hamas members, but the programme of the government was more important than its members.

''Here we are speaking of a new government of national unity. We are not speaking of Hamas ... the government will be a government where there will be Hamas members, but there will be many other members of civil society,'' she said.

''We have to face it will an open mind and we should accompany this process that might go in the right direction.'' Even if the new platform was excellent it would be some time before direct support could be resumed, she said.

EU ministers are therefore expected to approve a three-month extension of a temporary aid mechanism set up this year to channel essential aid to Palestinians while bypassing Hamas.

After talks with Abbas in Ramallah yesterday, French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy raised the prospect of a policy shift if the new government ''takes into consideration'' the Quartet's conditions.

But not all European governments are convinced. Diplomats said Britain, Germany, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic -- all close to Washington -- opposed any early policy change.

Asked about prospects that a unity government would meet the international community's conditions for talks, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said: ''So far not very positive, I must say.'' REUTERS AB KN1715