French Foreign Minister Mobbed by Angry Gazans
VOA News: A crowd of angry Palestinian protesters attempted to block the car of French Foreign Minister Michelle Alliot-Marie as she traveled to the Gaza Strip.
Dozens of protesters, many relatives of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, surrounded the vehicle shortly after it passed through a Hamas checkpoint Friday.
The protesters were angry at comments mistakenly attributed to Alliot-Marie following a meeting with the parents of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who was captured by militants in 2006. At the meeting Shalit's father asked Alliot-Marie to press the European Union to condemn his kidnapping as a war crime. News media however, attributed the statement to French foreign minister.
Hamas police eventually cleared the protesters allowing the convoy to continue its way to Gaza city.
But a separate group of demonstrators accosted her motorcade once it arrived at a nearby French-funded hospital she was visiting.
The foreign minister is in the region in an effort to revive stalled Mideast peace talks. On Thursday she met with her Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
Hamas police eventually cleared the protesters allowing the convoy to continue its way to Gaza city.
But a separate group of demonstrators accosted her motorcade once it arrived at a nearby French-funded hospital she was visiting.
The foreign minister is in the region in an effort to revive stalled Mideast peace talks. On Thursday she met with her Israeli counterpart Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Israeli President Shimon Peres.
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