[15/March/2010]

CAIRO, March 15 (Saba) -- EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton held lengthy talks here Monday with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa and his to assistants, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

Addressing the senior Arab League staff, Arab and foreign ambassadors, Ashton said Egypt was a major partner for the European Union (EU) in the region hence its speech in Cairo was very important.

She warned against the Israeli decision to build new settlement units in occupied East Jerusalem as it would undermine the agreement to start indirect negotiations the Palestinians under the US sponsorship.

Ashton said the EU's position against the settlements, it considered them illegal and represented a hurdle against peace.

The EU's top official said the Middle East was in need of peace based on international law, and that comprehensive peace should include Lebanon and Syria.

Ashton, making her visit visit to the region since she was selected for the top diplomatic post of the 27-member bloc last November, said everybody in the region should live up to their responsibilities towards peace.

Ashton's five-day tour of the region that will also take her to Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Territories and probably Gaza to meet with political leaders and civil society representatives.

Moussa, meanwhile, said his talks with Ashton deal with the Palestinian cause, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the situations in Sudan, Somalia, Iraq and Yemen.

Saba