Jordan Times
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
King, Ban talk peace
offensive, head to Riyadh summit
Palestinian, Israeli leaders to resume face-to-face political meetings
Agencies
KING ABDULLAH ON Tuesday stressed the importance of the UN role in pushing the
Middle East peace process and resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
The King told UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at a meeting in Amman that "time
should not be wasted, and the opportunity to achieve a comprehensive peace
should be seized”.
"Political momentum should be kept up as well as consultations between Arab and
international parties," the Monarch said. "Any alternative will only serve to
widen mistrust and violence."
During the meeting, Ban, for his part, urged the international community to
bolster fledging efforts to revive peacemaking between Israel and the
Palestinians.
Ban said the two sides must also balance their security and humanitarian
concerns.
"The international community has to encourage this very fragile process, so they
[Palestinians and Israelis] will constructively perform," he added.
"While I understand Israel's legitimate security concerns, these security
concerns should be balanced by addressing humanitarian problems" of the
Palestinians.
Ban said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on her third day of shuttle
diplomacy, had been "busily engaged" in trying to restart talks.
King Abdullah and Ban flew later separately to Riyadh as Arab leaders arrived in
Saudi Arabia for the two-day Arab summit, set to revive a five-year-old plan to
end decades of Israeli-Arab conflict at the heart of the region's problems.
The Arab summit, due to open today, is expected to renew an offer to the Jewish
state of normal ties with all Arab countries if it withdraws from all
territories it occupied in the 1967 war, accepts the creation of a Palestinian
state and agrees to a "just solution" for Palestinian refugees.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas urged Israel to seize on the Arab offer,
describing it as a last chance for Israel to live in a "sea of peace" across the
Arab and Islamic world.
"This initiative simply says to Israel 'leave the occupied territories and you
will live in a sea of peace that begins in Nouakchott and ends in Indonesia’,”
Abbas said, referring to the Mauritanian capital in west Africa and the
Southeast Asian country that is the Muslim world's most populous.
"If this initiative is destroyed, I don't believe there will be another
opportunity in the future like this."
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal said on Monday the plan will have a
strong chance of winning international support and of reviving Israeli-Arab
peace talks if adopted unanimously by all Arab leaders at the March 28-29
summit.
The meeting will also tackle other crises, including the Iraq conflict that
divided Sunnis and Shiites across the region and a political standoff between
the Western-backed government and the pro-Iranian opposition in Lebanon.
Fears are also high among Sunni leaders that any US-led attack on Iran, which
has refused to comply with UN demands to halt atomic work, could further
destabilise their region.
But draft resolutions, hammered out on Monday, are dominated by the Arab-Israeli
conflict and appear designed to entice Israel into talks without altering the
text of the peace plan.
The draft text obtained by Reuters calls on "all Israelis to accept the
initiative and seize the current opportunity to return to direct and serious
negotiating process at all levels".
'No concessions on refugees'
Israel objected to some parts of the plan, including the proposed return to the
1967 borders, the inclusion of Arab East Jerusalem in a Palestinian state and
demands for the return of Palestinian refugees to their homes in what is now
Israel.
The Islamist movement Hamas, which heads the Palestinian government, also had
some reservations about the text.
Hamas leader Khaled Mishaal was quoted by Saudi media as urging Arab leaders not
to make concessions on the demand for the Palestinian refugees to return home.
Hamas demands a right to return for all Palestinians who fled or were driven out
of what is now Israel during the 1948 war. The group refused to recognise
Israel, but Palestinian officials say it agreed not to go against the peace
plan.
The final draft avoids any mention of the phrase "right of return" for
Palestinian refugees but calls for a just solution to the problem.
It also sets up a mechanism to promote the peace plan that could pave the way
for Arab countries with no ties to Israel, including Saudi Arabia, to open
channels of communications with the Jewish state — a long-time goal of US
administrations.
Rice said Arab states needed to reach out to Israel in "active diplomacy".
"The Arab states should begin reaching out to Israel to reassure Israel that its
place in the region will be more — not less — secure by an end to the occupation
and the establishment of a Palestinian state," she told a news conference in
Jerusalem.
Ban said on Monday Israeli and Palestinian leaders, along with officials from
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates, could be invited to
attend the next Quartet meeting, expected to take place in Egypt.
The Quartet of the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia has
been responsible for steering peace talks.
The Arab summit will also encourage the international community to end a
political and financial embargo on the Hamas-led Palestinian unity government.
Political talks
Meanwhile, officials said Tuesday Israeli and Palestinian leaders will meet
every two weeks in discussions aimed at paving the way for a final settlement to
the Middle East conflict — in a small sign of momentum for the latest US push to
restart peace efforts.
Rice announced the planned biweekly meetings at the end of a swing through the
region, her fourth in as many months.
Although the talks will begin with modest day-to-day issues, they signalled a
deeper US commitment to bring the sides together after a six-year lull in peace
efforts.
"The Israelis and Palestinians are taking the initial step on the path to peace,
and the American role will include helping them to overcome obstacles, develop
new ideas, and rally international support for their efforts," she said.
She spoke after three days of shuttling between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert and Abbas. Relations between the men have worsened since Abbas, a
moderate who favours peace talks, formed a coalition government with Hamas
earlier this month.
Rice said in the current climate, getting the sides to widen the scope of their
discussions was more than she expected.
"They achieved something, which is the very regularised meetings between the two
of them, in which they will not just talk about their day-to-day issues, but
also about a political horizon," she said, explaining the talks could help build
confidence to smooth the way for talks on a final peace deal.
Still, she said the time was not yet ripe to discuss the specifics of such an
accord.
Palestinian officials expressed disappointment, saying little had been
accomplished.
"There was no need for a visit by Rice to get them to hold a meeting," said
Nabil Amr, Abbas' media adviser.
"The problem is not holding these meetings. The problem is that these meetings
are not productive because Olmert is not ready for a productive and meaningful
peace process." Olmert's spokeswoman, Miri Eisin, said Rice brought "many new
ideas" that could be a "basis to get into a renewed negotiation process". She
warned, however: "We’re not there yet."
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said a peace treaty is "impossible" now, but to
avoid a stalemate, Israel agreed "to hold a dialogue about the conditions for
creating a Palestinian state", emphasising Israel's security needs, according to
a statement from her office.
In addition to displeasure over the unity government, Israeli officials have
repeatedly criticised Abbas' inability to deliver on key issues, such as pledges
to halt rocket attacks or winning the release of an Israeli soldier captured by
Gaza fighters last June.
Rice said the US would set benchmarks for implementing a ceasefire, including
the halting of rocket fire, and for improving the flow of Palestinian travellers
and goods through Israeli-controlled crossings.
She said she believes it is possible for an Israeli-Palestinian peace deal to be
reached before US President George W. Bush leaves office in January 2009.
"The Arab states should begin reaching out to Israel, to reassure Israel that
its place in the region will be more, not less, secure by an end to the
occupation and the establishment of a Palestinian state, to show Israel that
they accept its place in the Middle East," she said.
Rice said her task had been complicated by the formation of the new Palestinian
government. Hamas refused to accept three international demands — recognition of
Israel, renunciation of violence and acceptance of previous peace deals with
Israel.
Abbas said the unity deal was necessary to avert Palestinian civil war and is
best he could get from Hamas.
While falling short of international demands, many Palestinians say the unity
deal implicitly recognises Israel by pledging to "respect" past peace
agreements.
In an apparent gesture to Israel, Rice shunned all members of the new
Palestinian Cabinet, including non-Hamas moderates, during her visit.
Danny Ayalon, Israel's recently retired ambassador to the US, said Rice made an
important accomplishment simply by getting the two sides to keep talking. But,
he said, "there was no substance in terms of bringing a political settlement
closer".