Annan relieved after Jericho siege

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan telephoned Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Wednesday to inform him that he was relieved the operation in Jericho had ended, as he was concerned it would lead to violent escalations in the region.

Annan, who called Olmert from South Africa, asked to be updated on the situation between Israel and the Palestinians following the IDF's siege of the Jericho prison Tuesday and the capture of murdered Tourism Minister Rehavam Zeevi's killers.

Olmert told Annan that Israel had to enter the Jericho prison and arrest the fugitives after British and United States monitors decided to evacuate the premises.

Until yesterday, the Jericho prison had been secured jointly by American, British and Palestinian forces. In 2005, when Israel handed over Jericho to the Palestinians, it stipulated the transfer of the city's prison on the placement of foreign monitors there to supervise its management.

Olmert said that Israel wanted to take Zeevi's murderers into Israeli custody due to the blatant and repeated violations by the Palestinians of the agreements on prisoner surveillance.

'Agreement reached on Iran Issue'

According to the Prime Minister's Office, Annan reiterated his commitment to the three demands set for Hamas by Israel and the international community, and noted that they would not be compromised.

During the conversation, the two discussed additional matters, including U.N. activities to pressure Lebanon to control Hizbullah violence on the northern border. Olmert's office said that the two also reached an agreement on the Iran issue.

In a U.N. statement made Wednesday, the organization called on both sides to immediately put a stop to the violence. In the statement, Annan demanded the release of the foreigners kidnapped Tuesday by Palestinian gunmen in Gaza and the West Bank.

Meanwhile, the European Union called for an end to attacks targeting EU offices and citizens in the Palestinian territories.

"We appeal in the strongest terms that no form of violence be used against EU offices, member state offices or our citizens," European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told the European Parliament, where Abbas had been due to speak.

"Nobody has helped the Palestinian people more than the EU. The EU has been, and wishes to continue to be, a donor to the Palestinian people," Barroso told the chambe