Russia, U.S. urge calm from Israelis, Palestinians

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called on Israelis and Palestinians to exercise restraint on Wednesday during a telephone conversation in the wake of Israel's raid on a West Bank jail.

Lavrov and Rice exchanged views "on the most pressing international and regional issues, with an emphasis on the Middle East and the Iranian nuclear program," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

They stressed "the importance of restraint on the part of Palestinians and Israelis and of additional efforts, including those by the Middle East mediating quartet, to normalize the situation in the Palestinian territories in light of the recent events in Jericho," it said.

Israeli troops tore through a prison in the West Bank town of Jericho on Tuesday and snatched six prominent Palestinian militants jailed there including Ahmed Saadat, leader of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, who is accused of ordering the 2001 assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister.

Lavrov informed Rice about "steps Russia has been taking in this direction, including contacts with various Palestinian political forces," the ministry said.

Source: Xinhua