ROME/GENEVA, 11 December 2003 — A Palestinian donor conference opened in Rome yesterday with a warning to Israel that its West Bank security barrier poses a threat to reaching peace in the Middle East.
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini of Italy, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, warned Israel the barrier “can compromise any possibility of reaching a solution to the conflict and is causing new suffering among the population” where it infringed on Palestinian territory.
He addressed representatives of 14 donor countries and international organizations gathered in Rome to hear an appeal from Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayad for $1.2 billion in aid to shore up the would-be state’s 2004 budget.
Frattini also called on Israel to halt Jewish settlement building in Palestinian territory, and dismantle those erected after March 2001. He insisted the Palestinians refrain from terrorism. He said the new government led by Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei would put an end to bomb attacks in Israel.
“There can be no ambiguity about this point, because the violence can have no justification and does not serve the cause of the Palestinian people.
“From the Palestinian government, we expect to see progress too in political and economic reform and in the reform of the security apparatus, and we are ready to support this effort,” said Frattini.
The talks are being attended by Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath, and representatives of the quartet sponsoring the so-called “roadmap” peace plan:
The European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.
Later in the day, Israel’s Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom held his first meeting with Shaath, a breakthrough which is hoped will lead to the resumption of stalled Middle East peace talks.
However, it became clear at a news conference after their hour-long meeting that both sides are still far apart on the agenda for talks between Sharon and Qorei.
The meeting on the sidelines of the donors’ conference was designed to pave the way for a summit. Both ministers said they were ready to hold full talks immediately, but Shalom indicated no progress would be made if the Palestinians insisted on preconditions that Israel’s security barrier be included in the talks.
“We need two to tango,” said Shalom, adding that, in his delegation’s meeting with the Palestinians, “We have heard some preconditions”.
“We don’t want preconditions about the wall,” he insisted, questioned by journalists after the talks.
“We can’t accept preconditions about the fence only for having this meeting,” he said, adding that issues could be raised freely by both sides at the prime ministers’ meeting but “we don’t believe preconditions are helpful”.
However, Shaath made it clear that “the wall remains a major problem. It has to be part of the agenda; it has to be discussed very seriously.” Shalom had earlier had talks in Geneva with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
The US special envoy to the Middle East, William Burns, as well as World Bank President James Wolfensohn also attended the meeting at Italy’s Foreign Ministry.
The Palestinian finance minister was expected to outline his budget plans to the meeting and request aid totaling $1.2 billion, mainly to make up a shortfall in the Palestinian Authority’s 2004 budget, a spokeswoman for the World Bank said.
Shalom said yesterday Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Palestinian counterpart Qorei could meet within the next few days. “We believe that if the Palestinians will not put any preconditions in order to have a meeting between Sharon and Abu Ala, we will be able to have this meeting in the next few days,” Shalom said. Qorei is also known as Abu Ala.
