AMMAN: US Democratic Party presidential candidate Barack Obama yesterday pledged to work relentlessly for peace between Israel and the Palestinians based on the “two-state” vision if he elected president.
Addressing a press conference in Amman, Obama said he was committed to a 16-month timetable for a US military withdrawal from Iraq. The question of when to withdraw some 147,000 US troops in Iraq overshadowed the first-term senator’s trip. Obama has made his opposition to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 a centerpiece of his election campaign.
Obama voiced concern because of the shaky position of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the disruption in the Palestinian ranks resulting from Hamas’ takeover of the Gaza Strip in mid-June last year after defeating President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah forces.
“It is my firm belief that it is in the interest of both the Israeli people and the Palestinians to arrive at a peaceful settlement,” Obama said, adding that it was a “very difficult process” due to the history of sufferings on both sides.
In Baghdad, Obama met Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki and American military commanders on Monday. Earlier yesterday, he met Sunni Arab tribal leaders in western Anbar province.
In another development, Iraq’s Parliament passed a provincial elections bill yesterday, but a walkout by Kurdish lawmakers over how to deal with the disputed oil city of Kirkuk could mean the law will not be ratified by the presidency.
Kurds make up one of three main groups, and their boycott of the vote means the bill could be sent back to Parliament.
The law is meant to pave the way for polls seen as vital to reconciling Iraq’s Sunni Arabs, who boycotted the last provincial elections in 2005, with its other communities.
Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Khalid Al-Attiya cast doubt on whether a law passed without the Kurds present would even be ratified by Iraq’s presidency council headed by President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd.
