The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, lavished praise on Palestinian Authority chairman, Mr Yasser Arafat, today for his "tenacity and persistence" in pursuing peace in the Middle East.
After meeting with Mr Arafat at his offices in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Mr Cowen said he was "appalled" at the conditions in which the ageing leader lives, implicitly criticising Israeli forces for their bombardment of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) headquarters last year.
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The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen
pictured along with Mr Yasser Arafat |
Mr Cowen's words could re-ignite press criticism in Israel which yesterday branded Mr Cowen's exclusion of Israel from the itinerary of his Middle East trip as a, "Irish snub" to Israeli Prime Minister Mr Ariel Sharon.
However, the Israelis are playing down the diplomatic significance of Mr Cowen's discussions with Mr Arafat despite their refusal to receive foreign dignitaries who meet the PLO leader.
"We're not singling out Brian Cowen, it's a matter of Israeli policy and it's backed by the US," a spokesman for the Israeli Emabssy in Dublin told ireland.com.
Mr Cowen met Israeli Foreign Minister, Mr Silvan Shalom, in Crete last month, and hopes to travel to Israel later this year.
The Minister's visit comes ahead of Ireland joins the European Union Troika on July 1st and is part of a series of visits and contacts which the Minister will be making before Ireland assumes the EU Presidency on 1 January 2004.
Mr Cowen, who also met recently-elected Palestinian prime minister Mr Mahmoud Abbas, urged all parties involved in the Middle East to support the road map for peace.