Press encounter at the Grand Hotel (unofficial transcript)
Press events | Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General
SG: I think, like everyone else, I'm distressed about what's going on in the region. Recently, there has been enhanced international involvement in an attempt to break the impasse and eventually lead the parties back to the negotiating table. And so what is happening is serious and we need to continue and redouble our efforts to try and contain it before it gets completely out of hand.
My own representative on the ground, Terje Roed-Larsen, is working very closely with the Russian Envoy, the European Union and the American Representative, as a team, as a quartet, he's working with the parties and keeping us informed. I'm in touch with the other leaders who are engaged in this ....
Q: But how can you get them back to the negotiating table when they don't want to?
SG: This is it. For the time being, there hasn't been an indication that they are ready to do it. But I don't think we should give up our effort and hope. It does mean we need to work harder because the killing cannot go on. There's too much suffering. Innocent people are being killed. And we need to do everything we can to get them back to the table. The violence has to stop.
Q: How do you look on the fact that the Israelis don't talk to Yasser Arafat?
SG: I have heard the reports but we need to analyze that a bit more. Is it just Arafat? Would they deal with other people in the PLO? We need to really look into this and see what it means because in effect we need to keep the link, we need to keep a dialogue going. They have discussions on security, about reducing tension. That has to continue. And it takes two sides to talk and so we need to look at that.
Q: But the Israelis demand a ceasefire before getting back to the table.
SG: I know this is the position and this has been the position for a while. But up till now, it has not yielded results. It hasn't failed, it hasn't worked. And I think we need to look for some fresh approaches to break this impasse. I think we need to work with the parties to find a way out, because to say that this is what we demand, if it doesn't work for eight months to a year, we need to be looking at new approaches.