CAIRO, 23 November 2007 — Egyptian, Jordanian and Palestinian leaders said yesterday they were optimistic about the outcome of a US-sponsored peace conference as Arab foreign ministers mulled whether to join the conference.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak wound up a three-day meeting with Jordan’s King Abdallah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Egyptian resort of Sharm El-Sheikh amid a rush of diplomatic activity ahead of the talks in Annapolis, outside Washington on Nov. 27.
The talks came as Arab League foreign ministers were to hold talks on whether to join the Annapolis meeting, amid skepticism from many Arab nations that anything concrete would emerge from it.
In Sharm, the three leaders agreed that “this meeting opens the way for much optimism in that it could fulfill the ambitions of the Palestinian and Arab people and all those interested in the Palestinian question and the peace process,” Egyptian presidential spokesman Suleiman Awad told reporters.
The letter of invitation to the conference “contains some reference points for peace including the Arab peace initiative and the principle of land for peace,” Awad said.
During a visit to Egypt on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he hoped to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians in 2008. But there are differences between the Israelis and Palestinians over a joint document to be presented at the conference — even over what the statement should be called.
The Palestinian leadership and other Arab states are looking to tackle the thorniest issues such as the status of East Jerusalem, the boundaries of a future Palestinian state and the status of Palestinian refugees.
Israel instead wants a less detailed document, stating a list of principles on which to base negotiations.
Arab foreign ministers were to meet at Arab League headquarters here for preparatory talks ahead of a session today, to be attended by Abbas, which will decide on Arab participation at the Annapolis meeting.
“The main issue on the agenda is to decide whether Arab participation will be determined by a common decision, or individually,” said Hisham Yussef, secretary-general of Amr Moussa’s chief of staff.
The Cairo meeting will bring together members of the Arab contact group — which includes Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Qatar, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Sudan and the Palestinian Authority — tasked with reactivating an Arab peace initiative launched by Saudi Arabia last year.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday that Washington wanted “as broad an Arab participation as possible.”
Syria’s President Bashar Assad has said that Damascus will stay away from the conference unless the broader Israeli-Arab conflict is up for discussion, including the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.
Egypt, a key broker between Israel and the Palestinians, said on Wednesday that Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit would be its representative at the talks.
Oman yesterday became the first Gulf state to announce it will take part in a US-sponsored Middle East peace meeting next week. “The United States is a friend of ours. We know they are making serious efforts,” said Omani Foreign Minister Yussef ibn Alawi ibn Abdullah, quoted by the official ONA news agency.
Meanwhile, rifts between Israel and Palestinians ahead of a US peace meeting are still to be bridged.
The document is meant to serve as basis for final status talks expected to kick off after the Nov. 27 conference and negotiators have been trying in vain for weeks to decide on the wording. But the differences between the sides are wide, according to the draft published by Haaretz daily.
The negotiating teams have met for hours on a daily basis over the past several days, encounters that often run into the early morning hours as they try to hammer out a compromise text. “Meetings continued until dawn today without reaching agreement because of big differences,” Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said. “Meetings could go on in Washington before the Annapolis meeting.”
