U.N.'s Brahimi sticks by Israeli "poison" comments

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L2416922.htm

PARIS, April 24 (Reuters) - The United Nations' special envoy to Iraq stuck by his stance on Saturday that Israel was "poisoning" the Middle East and said this was fact not opinion.

Lakhdar Brahimi, meeting French President Jacques Chirac for talks on a future Iraqi government, was reiterating comments made earlier this week, which prompted the U.N. to say he was expressing "personal views" which do not fit with U.N. policy.

"The policy of Israel is a poison in the region, and that is the feeling of everyone in the region and beyond and i think this is a statement of fact, not an opinion," said Brahimi after a meeting with French President Jacques Chirac in Paris for talks on forming a local authority in Iraq.

Brahimi said earlier this week his job of forming an Iraqi government was being complicated by "the Israeli policy of domination and the suffering imposed on the Palestinians".

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