http://jordantimes.com/fri/news/news2.htm
Abbas, Livni pledge drive for peace
Israel, Jordan, Palestinians agree on economic zone — Peres
DAVOS (AP) — Israel's foreign minister reached out to the Palestinian president in an emotional speech Thursday as he sat next to her at the World Economic Forum, saying lasting peace is the dream of her people and promising that a future Palestinian state is "not an illusion... It's achievable". Tzipi Livni made clear, however, that her government would not compromise on its need for security and urged Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas not to compromise with extremists, a reference to the Hamas government's refusal to disavow its call for Israel's destruction.
But Livni, turning to face Abbas, also made a personal and impassioned plea for dialogue to begin.
"I would like to negotiate, to speak, to meet, to talk," she said. On finding peace, she said: "There is nothing I want more ... this is part of our dream, this is part of our goal." Abbas, for his part, said he was confident that the peace process could be put back on track. "We are ready as of now to start serious negotiations," he said during the public session. Afterward, the two warmly shook hands. They are to meet one-on-one at a hotel near the forum on Friday. "We are creating this momentum ... to put the train on the track and push it after that," Abbas told the Associated Press.
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert are scheduled to hold three-way talks next month with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, although a date and place have not been set.
The renewed efforts to jumpstart peace talks have come amid widespread worry in recent weeks that unless progress is made, the Mideast in general will continue to deteriorate.
The pledges by Livni and Abbas followed pleas from Israeli and Palestinian youth, speaking via satellite from Ramallah, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, that their leaders end the conflict, which has been going on since long before they were born.
Many in the crowd of some of the world's most powerful business and political leaders seemed deeply moved by their words.
The tone was a sharp departure from the somber mood that took hold of Davos a year ago, when Israeli and Palestinian delegates were stunned mid-conference by news of the Hamas victory in Palestinian elections a world away. At the time, many predicted 12 months of pain lay ahead for the region, and they were right.
The year brought violent Palestinian infighting and crippling Western sanctions targeted at Hamas that have hit ordinary Palestinians hard. Progress in talks between Israel and the Palestinians ground to a halt in the months after Hamas' victory.
Livni made clear that Hamas was still an obstacle.
"Compromising with extremists will not promote anything, but it can lead to further stagnation," she said, addressing Abbas.
Abbas said he was hopeful that talks with Hamas could result in a unity Palestinian government, despite violence between Hamas fighters and his Fateh supporters. He reiterated that he would call early elections if the talks failed but gave no specifics.
"We will fight for this [unity] government. Otherwise, if we totally fail, we will go to early elections," he told the AP.
Abbas met earlier in the day with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who told reporters that she wished Abbas success in his efforts to form a unity government, but added that "Europe should not overestimate its role" in restarting any broader talks on peace.
Abbas and Olmert met last month to discuss confidence-building measures that would allow the sides to return to the negotiating table, abandoned more than six years ago.
While the Israeli-Palestinian issue provided the day's most dramatic moment, the forum was also an occasion for interesting, quirky and sometimes high-level meetings. In one small corridor early Thursday, UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman — a former US Secretary of Agriculture in the Bush administration — had a brief, warm reunion with former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami.
Veneman said the two had met previously at a forum on promoting interfaith understanding.
At another forum, a Saudi princess, a Jewish orthodox rabbi/peace activist and Khatami talked about Muslim-Christian misunderstandings and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.
Meanwhile, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres said Thursday Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians agreed to create a 500-kilometre-long "valley of peace" common economic zone.
"I do believe that the time has come, that while the politics should be done in a couple — between the Palestinians and us — the economy in our region should be done by a troika, the Jordanians, the Palestinians and us," Peres said at the World Economic Forum.
"The three countries have agreed to take the whole length of the frontier between Jordan, Israel and the Palestinians [West Bank], 500 kilometres long, and convert it into an ongoing economic zone," he added.
Peres, who was speaking during a public debate with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, did not give details on what parts of the frontier between Israel and Palestinian territory might be involved.
Dubbing the zone a "valley of peace", Peres underlined that a huge market could develop in the Arab world over the next decade and appealed for investment.
"It can lower the tone and the flames of Muslim resistance and do it very quickly," Peres explained.
The economic zone would include cooperation on water, agriculture, joint airports and tourism, Peres said.
Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority — which all divert waters from the Jordan River for irrigation purposes — in December launched a two-year feasibility study to try and save the rapidly vanishing Dead Sea.
Friday-Saturday, January 26-27, 2007
The left's New Anti-Semitism
Linear Mode
