In the latest diplomatic activity aimed at facilitating the
US-proposed Middle East peace process, Jordan's King Abdullah II on
Sunday conferred with visiting international Quartet envoy Tony
Blair.
Abdullah told Blair that the upcoming peace conference should
tackle various outstanding issues between the Palestinians and
Israel, especially those pertaining to the final status including
Jerusalem, the Palestinian borders and the refugees.
"To ensure the success of the peace conference, all parties
concerned ... should work seriously in the coming few weeks to
ensure that the meeting comes up with positive results ... in
establishing an independent state on all Palestinian territories,"
said Abdullah.
The King suggested that the conference, slated for November,
should lay out a working plan with a "specific timetable." He also
urged the Palestinians and Israel to resume final status
negotiations over those thorny issues such as the Palestinian
borders and Jerusalem.
Blair is on a two-week-long regional tour in the Middle East,
which had already taken him to Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian
territories.
Blair is expected to report the outcome of his ongoing visit to
the international Quartet, which groups the UN, the EU, the US and
Russia, during its upcoming meeting slated for Sept. 23 in New
York.
On July 16, US President George W. Bush proposed to hold an
international conference this fall, which would bring together
Israel, the Palestinians and some neighboring Arab states, to help
resume the stalled Middle East peace talks.
In one of the first diplomatic activities to prepare for the
upcoming conference, the two major roles, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, met in
Jerusalem on Aug. 28.
The Israeli side said Olmert-Abbas meeting was "very
constructive" and the two spoke about "fundamental issues that were
necessary to bring about the establishment of two states for
people." While the Palestinian side claimed that the meeting was
"serious and in-depth."
Early this month, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana met with
both Abbas and Olmert and stressed that the coming months would see
"intense" for peacemaking efforts.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and Austrian Chancellor
Alfred Gusenbauer also paid a visit to the region.
Early this month, Abdullah also toured France, Saudi Arabia,
Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in his party's efforts to
energize the peace process.
Questions and doubts among Arabs
With their intense diplomatic efforts, Arab diplomats and
politicians seemed to embraced Bush's proposal and consider the
upcoming conference a good opportunity to resume
Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, which was at a deadlock since
2000.
Though so, the US-proposed conference is still facing many
questions such as the agenda, real goal, the role of Syria,
internal Palestinian political crisis, and among others. Many Arabs
were doubtful over any significant achievement of the
conference.
During a regular Arab League (AL) meeting held last Wednesday in
Cairo, some of the Arab parties said the US initiative must be
dealt with cautiously.
"Arabs should not be surprised that the real aim may be
increasing normalization with Israel without a real breakthrough
for the Palestinians," said an Arab diplomat on condition of
anonymity.
AL Secretary General Amr Moussa said that the conference, if
fails, would pose a threat to Arab interests and regional
stability.
"A meeting, convened as a political demonstration without
producing real substance, will not only be useless, but also will
be harmful to Arab interests and the regional situation," Moussa
said.
The AL chief said a serious peace conference requires the
attendance of all Arab states directly concerned, apparently
referring to Syria, which has not been invited so far.
The upcoming conference should be based upon the peace
initiative adopted by Arab countries in 2002 and relevant UN
resolutions, said Moussa, adding that it should also deal with
final status issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Abbas also had much concern. He said late August that the
incoming conference "lacks clarity" and it could fail if no
clarification for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
was devised.
After a meeting with Abdullah in Amman, Abbas told Jordan
Television that the conference would not be useful if the
participants go to it "without clarifications for a solution, and
without a declaration of principles within a framework."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a veteran politician on the
Palestinian-Israeli peace process, warned that if the conference
fails to produce a breakthrough, the negative repercussions would
affect the whole region, increase feelings of frustration and
strengthen extremism.
"This peace conference is an opportunity that should not be
lost," said Mubarak. "Further political efforts have to be exerted
to coordinate the stance of Arab and Western countries in a bid to
secure the Mideast peace conference a success."
A clear frame, agenda and timetable should be clarified to ease
the doubts about the significance of the conference, said
Mubarak.
(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2007)
