Jordan Times
Thursday, February 3, 2005
King to attend Egypt summit
Abbas, Mulki hold talks in Amman
Agence France-Presse
The Israeli and Palestinian leaders were set for their first summit in more than
four years after Ariel Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas accepted Wednesday an Egyptian
invitation for talks on the shores of the Red Sea next week.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and His Majesty King Abdullah will also attend
the summit in the resort of Sharm El Sheikh on February 8, as part of a
concerted international effort to forge ahead with the Middle East peace
process.
The invitation was delivered to Israeli Premier Sharon by Egyptian intelligence
services chief Omar Suleiman in a meeting in Jerusalem.
"In light of progress in the security talks with the Palestinians, Egyptian
President Mubarak has invited Prime Minister Sharon and Palestinian Authority
Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to meet next Tuesday at Sharm El Sheikh," a statement
from the prime minister's office said.
"Prime Minister Sharon has accepted the invitation," the statement added.
At the end of a trip to Turkey, Abbas also confirmed he would be going to Egypt
and expressed hope the summit would yield positive results.
"We will go to the meeting with hope," said Abbas, who held talks in Amman with
Foreign Minister Hani Mulki on the summit's preparations.
The summit had been arranged due to the "critical stage the peace process is
going through" and to "achieve concrete progress on the Palestinian track," said
state media in Cairo.
After coming to power in February 2001, Sharon boycotted Abbas' late
predecessor, Yasser Arafat, declaring him an obstacle to peace and kept him
under virtual house arrest in the West Bank for nearly three years.
However, Arafat's death in November and Abbas's election on January 9 have
prompted a renewed push for peace after more than four years of violence, which
has claimed some 4,700 lives.
Both Abbas and Sharon have said they detect an "historic opportunity" to make
progress in the peace process.
The two men met on a number of occasions in the summer of 2003 during Abbas's
brief spell as prime minister, including at the launch of the roadmap peace
plan.
The blueprint, which aims for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside a
secure Israel, has made next to no progress although both Sharon and Abbas have
emphasised that they remain committed to the plan.
Israel has accused the Palestinians of violating its terms by failing to stop
violence, while the Palestinians point to continued settlement activity in the
occupied territories as proof that Israel is not meeting its obligations.
Sharon, however, has been impressed by Abbas's recent efforts to halt the
violence, including the deployment of thousands of troops throughout the Gaza
Strip with orders to prevent anti-Israeli attacks.
Abbas has also managed to persuade armed groups to observe a temporary "cooling
down" period.
The Palestinian leader is trying to translate the temporary truce into a formal
ceasefire but wants Israel to reciprocate by ending its military activities in
the occupied territories and starting to release prisoners.
The ceasefire and prisoners issue are expected to top the agenda, said
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia.
"We are making very significant efforts to secure a ceasefire at the same time
between us and the Israelis," he told reporters.
Qureia said the Palestinians would like new US Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice to attend the summit.
Rice is scheduled to be in Israel and the West Bank a day before the summit for
talks with Abbas and, likely, Sharon on the evolving peace process.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan declined to say whether Washington would
be represented, but noted that Rice planned a trip to the region.
"There have been a number of encouraging steps, from both parties, that show
they want to seize this opportunity before us to move forward," he said.
As both sides sought to build confidence, Israel said it would freeze its
pursuit of wanted fighters.
"We will give Abu Mazen (Abbas) a chance by suspending our operations against
the wanted Palestinians, but this is a freeze not an amnesty," Amos Gilad, chief
political adviser to Defence Minister Shaul Mofaz, said.
As part of their efforts to end attacks, Palestinian security forces launched an
operation to search out tunnels used to smuggle weapons and ammunition under the
border between Egypt and southern Gaza.