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Egyptian PM Ahmed Nazief, left and Lebanese PM Fuad Saniora attend a symposium at the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Egypt, Sunday.
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| By Associated Press May 22, 2006 |
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Global business and political leaders focused on dialogue, democracy and development in the Middle East, although three major players - Iran, Hamas and Syria - were absent, leaving the talks nearly rancor free but with a hollow ring.
Participants in forum symposiums Sunday at the World Economic Forum's regional meeting talked about ways to increase dialogue and expand democracy in Arab nations, although the discussions sometimes butted into regional realities.
The forum, however, did succeed in bringing Palestinian and Israeli leaders together for the first time since the Islamic militants of Hamas won Palestinian elections in January.
Iran and its nuclear dispute with the West, Syria and its troubles with the United Nations, and Hamas with its aid boycott by the United States and European Union are among the contentious issues in the region and their absence put those questions on the sidelines.
Iran has been a regular participant at the main World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, but skipped the regional session at Sharm el-Sheik.
The Palestinian invitation to the first of the forum's Middle East conferences to be hosted by Egypt went to President Mahmoud Abbas, who is at loggerheads with the Hamas-led government.
Syria, under suspicion in the assassination of a former Lebanese leader and accused of not doing enough to stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq, also stayed away.
The lack of participation may have been for the best, forum chief Klaus Schwab said.
"The principle of the World Economic Forum is dialogue, positive dialogue. At the moment, regrettably, I think the situation is such that we could not feel we can make a specific contribution at this meeting for better understanding, for better relations," he said at a news conference Saturday.
Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif insisted his government already engages in dialogue, saying elections and parliamentary debates are a kind of dialogue as Egypt engages in a process of reform.
But Egyptian authorities have virtually gutted the moderate opposition. And police and security forces used violence against supporters of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood to keep them from reaching polling stations during parliamentary elections late last year.
Egyptian security forces also cracked down twice in two weeks on anti-government protesters in Cairo, beating them and throwing hundreds in jail. The U.S. responded with an unusual public criticism of its longtime close Arab ally.
Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Saniora said the dialogue among his country's feuding political factions could be used as an example for other Arabs. Yet the talks have failed to produce accords on other major contentious issues.
Saniora did not talk about his government's virulently anti-Syrian stance and the deep split between his supporters and those allied to Syria, which kept its army in Lebanon for nearly 30 years before withdrawing last year under heavy international and domestic Lebanese pressure.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian president met on the fringes of the conference with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Vice Premier Shimon Peres. Abbas said he told Livni that the two sides must restore regular contact and work toward resuming peace talks.
Israeli officials said the two discussed preparations for a summit between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert once Olmert returns from a trip to Washington.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict also took up discussion time elsewhere at the conference.
Explaining the U.S. financial boycott of the Hamas government, Sen. Gordon Smith said that while America respects elections, "we disagree with the policy of exterminating political opposition and exterminating one's neighbor and don't feel an obligation to support financially those kind of policies."
Hamas has rejected U.S. and European demands to renounce violence and accept the right of Israel to exist.
The Arab League's secretary-general, Amr Moussa, defended the Hamas-led government.
"Have we given this government a chance?" he asked. "From day one they are under siege, blocked, attacked, no money should be transferred to them. Just put yourself in their place."
Report: Italy's new foreign minister says Hamas must be isolated, reiterates U.S. ties
Italy's new foreign minister outlined the government's foreign policy in a newspaper interview Sunday, saying the country will follow the rest of Europe in isolating Hamas and reiterating his country's friendship with the United States despite disagreement on Iraq.
Massimo D'Alema, a former Communist who was premier of Italy from 1998-2000, made the comments four days after Italy's new government was sworn in replacing that of conservative Silvio Berlusconi, a close U.S. ally.
"It is evident, on the one hand, that Italy has no intention of breaking that coherence, Europe's unanimous position that tends to isolate Hamas," D'Alema said in an interview published in leftist daily L'Unita, a newspaper friendly to D'Alema's Democrats of the Left party.
"We do not believe that a government that denies Israel's right to exist can be a part of a peace process," he said. "That's an essential point."
D'Alema added, however, that the Palestinians must be helped.
"It would not be acceptable for the international community or convenient for Israel for there to be a humanitarian collapse in the territories," D'Alema said.
He added that it would be "wrong" for Israel to act unilaterally on redrawing its borders, a move that would go against U.N. resolutions and endanger chances for a negotiated solution.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said he will draw Israel's borders, unilaterally if necessary, by 2010, dismantling many West Bank settlements and incorporating the largest settlement blocs into Israel.
Italy, and its left wing in particular, has been sympathetic to the Palestinians in recent decades, but Berlusconi's conservative government emerged as one of the most friendly to Israel. However, the victory of Premier Romano Prodi's leftist coalition had led to speculation there could be a cooling of relations between Italy and Israel.
In practical terms, Italy's new government means less political support for Israel, said James Walston, a political science professor at the American University in Rome.
"There will be no difference in the amount of money, trade and cooperation. There will be a difference in the sort of statements every time there's a shooting in Gaza," Walston said. "They'll be more supportive of the Palestinians, but they certainly won't be in support of Hamas."
D'Alema also reiterated Italy's friendly relationship with the United States, but noted that Iraq was a hurdle.
"Our friendship with the United States cannot remove the awareness that there's a disagreement about this with the Bush administration," D'Alema told the newspaper. "On the other hand, it's a disagreement that also exists in American society."
Italy said Saturday it would begin planning the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq this week, and Premier Romano Prodi last week called the war there "a grave error."
In contrast, Berlusconi defied opposition at home and sent about 3,000 troops to Iraq to help with reconstruction after the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003. However, Berlusconi's government began withdrawing troops ahead of last month's elections, saying the pullout would be completed by the end of 2006.
D'Alema said Saturday that the government would meet Wednesday to begin planning the pullout, and it was unclear how its timeline would differ from that of the previous government.
Walston said the new government's support of the Bush administration was "lukewarm to cold," but would affect mostly issues related to Iraq and Israel.
"Trade, peacekeeping in the Balkans, Afghanistan - they're not going to change on that," Walston said.
The new foreign minister also said his government would make the including the Balkan nations in the European Union a priority, and push for a new, slimmer version of the one that was rejected by French and Dutch voters.
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