 |
 |
 |
|
|
British PM Tony Blair and Israeli PM Ariel Sharon on Dec. 22, 2005. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff and partners December 22, 2004 |
|
| |
British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Wednesday proposed holding a one-day conference in March to help reform and strengthen the Palestinian Authority, billing it as a step toward reviving peace talks stalled by Israeli-Palestinian fighting.
Interim Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he welcomed the idea of the conference, though the Palestinians initially hoped for a broader agenda, including key disputes with Israel over Jerusalem, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the borders of a Palestinian state.
Blair told a joint news conference with Abbas that the focus of the London gathering would be narrower -- focusing on Palestinian administrative, economic and security reform. He said "final status issues" would have to be left to a later time.
Blair said he hoped the conference would serve as a bridge back to the "road map," the three-stage peace plan that is to culminate in Palestinian statehood.
"My purpose is to give help to the Palestinian Authority and its people so that we can get back into the road map negotiations toward the two-state solution and the viable Palestinians state at the end of it," Blair said.
The international community has long pushed for Palestinian reform, but made no inroads while Arafat was alive. Abbas has promised to make changes, including streamlining the unwieldy security services.
The London meeting had been talked about for weeks, but Wednesday marked the first time Blair spoke of it in public. Israel has said it supported the gathering but would not attend.
Abbas, who is running to replace Arafat in Jan. 9 elections, said the Palestinians are eager to resume talks with Israel. "We are very keen and very concerned about catching up on the lost time," he said, referring to the deadlock during more than four years of fighting.
Before meeting with Abbas, Blair briefly paid his respects at Arafat's tomb in the courtyard of the late Palestinian leader's headquarters in Ramallah. Blair walked toward the grave, nodded slightly and then walked on. The Palestinians had hoped Blair would lay a wreath at the tomb.
Earlier Wednesday, Blair met with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, and agreed with the Israeli position that no progress toward peace is possible without an end to violence.
"There is not going to be any successful negotiation or peace without an end to terrorism," Blair said during a news conference with Sharon. "The absence of terrorism then can create the situation in which a proper negotiated settlement can take place."
Abbas has unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a cease-fire with Palestinian militant groups and has called for an end to anti-Israel propaganda in the Palestinian media. Regardless, militants in the Gaza Strip have launched repeated mortar and rocket attacks in recent weeks on Israeli settlements and military bases. Three Palestinians were killed in Gaza fighting Wednesday.
Also Wednesday, an Israeli civilian working on constructing the West Bank separation barrier was shot and killed by Palestinian militants. The Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, a militant group affiliated with Abbas' Fatah movement, claimed responsibility for the shooting.
Sharon said that if there is a "full cessation of terror, hostilities and incitement, the door will be open for the road map, which will change, I believe, the life of the Israelis, the Palestinians and change the situation in the region."
But so far the Palestinian's have made no moves to stop the attacks, he said.
"We don't see even the slightest step taken by the Palestinians. I understand there are elections now ... but they are not doing even the slightest effort," he said in English in his first openly critical remarks about Abbas since Arafat's death.
Israel said the conference should deal only with reforms in the Palestinian Authority and new donor aid for the Palestinians. Blair agreed, saying major peace conferences will have to wait until after the Gaza pullout, scheduled to begin in July. Blair said Sharon told him that if terror attacks end, the withdrawal will be followed by other peace moves.
The settlers in Gaza said earlier this week they planned to resist Israel's efforts to evacuate them.
As part of the new wave of diplomacy in the region since Arafat's death, Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini met with Abbas on Wednesday and endorsed the Palestinian leader's candidacy, saying he could lead the Palestinians to a prosperous future and statehood.
"If Mahmoud Abbas is elected, and I hope he is, we will have good reason to be pleased," Fini told a news conference in Ramallah before laying a wreath on Arafat's tomb. Arafat died Nov. 11.
The AP contributed to this report.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
