Powell Outraged at Gaza Murder of Three Americans

Powell Outraged at Murder of Three Americans in Gaza

Says they were on a mission of peace

Secretary of State Colin Powell, in an October 15 statement, said he was outraged by the murder of three innocent Americans, and the wounding of a fourth American, in a terrorist attack in Gaza earlier in the day.

Powell said he had spoken with both Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and its Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia, and made clear to them, in the strongest possible terms, the need to move urgently to end terrorism.

Following is Secretary Powell's statement:

(begin transcript)

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
October 15, 2003

STATEMENT BY SECRETARY OF STATE COLIN L. POWELL
ON THE ATTACK OF A U.S. EMBASSY CONVOY IN THE GAZA STRIP

I'm outraged by the murder of three Americans and the wounding of one other today in the northern Gaza Strip.

The innocent Americans who died -- John Branchizio, Mark Parson and John Linde, Jr. -- were on a mission of peace as part of our Embassy team going to interview Palestinians for Fulbright scholarships to study or teach in the United States.

They were helping the Palestinian people. They were murdered by terrorists, the same terrorists who have killed so many others and who are killing the dreams of the Palestinian people.

Earlier today, I spoke with both Foreign Minister Shalom and Prime Minister Qureia and made clear to them, in the strongest possible terms, the need to move urgently to end terrorism.

With Prime Minister Qureia, I made absolutely clear that we cannot move forward to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without eliminating violence and terrorism. I also made clear that we expect full cooperation in investigating this heinous act and in bringing the murderers to justice.

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