GAZA/MOSCOW, 1 February 2005 — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will submit four demands when he meets Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon next week, sources close to the Palestinian leader said in Gaza yesterday.
They said Abbas will ask Sharon to free 8,000 Palestinians from Israeli jails, will demand Israel respect any truce he manages to extract from Palestinian militant factions and will demand Israel withdraw to positions held in September 2000, when the Palestinian uprising broke out.
The last major demand will be that Sharon coordinate with the Palestinians Israel’s intended withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, slated to begin this summer. This would include dismantling the settlements in the Gaza Strip and northern West Bank slated for evacuation and a full Israeli army withdrawal from both areas.
The sources added that they expected Sharon would not approve Abbas’ demands, but Israel would ease restrictions and security measures imposed on the Palestinians.
The Sharon-Abbas meeting, the first between the two men since Abbas was elected President on Jan. 9, will not deal with a resumption of peace talks between the sides, they said.
Meanwhile, Russia pledged its “active” support yesterday for the Palestinians amid growing signs of a revival in the long-dormant Middle East peace process as visiting Palestinian leader Abbas voiced “high hopes” Moscow would advance the drive to restart peace talks.
“You are the recognized leader of the Palestinian people and we will actively support you,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told Abbas in front of reporters after the two held talks.
Speaking afterward at the Kremlin where he held a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Abbas said there was now a “historic” opportunity to rekindle the Middle East peace process and said Russia had a decisive role to play in doing so.
“There is a historic chance to bring about peace in the region,” Abbas said.
“Russia’s support in bilateral relations and in the framework of the quartet will be of decisive importance in establishing a universal and stable peace in the Middle East,” the Palestinian leader said.
Putin said he hoped Abbas would succeed in implementing measures needed to improve the Palestinian-Israeli relationship and bolster the Palestinian economy.
“We are ready to cooperate with you and the international community in an active way to resolve these issues,” Putin said.
Abbas underscored that his decision to travel to Moscow before visiting the United States or the European Union was deliberate and said the Palestinians “have placed high hopes in Russia advancing the peace process.”
Abbas’ trip to Moscow came as Israeli media reported that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s top advisors were to meet yesterday in Washington with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to discuss prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire.
Rice was scheduled to travel to the region on Feb. 6 and 7 and an Israeli official said a summit between Sharon and Abbas could take place the week beginning Feb. 6, coinciding with Rice’s trip.
Moscow, a member of the Middle East “quartet,” enjoyed close relations in Soviet times with the Palestinians and other Arab states but its influence in the region has dwindled since the break-up of the Soviet Union.
Analysts said Russia, which has also developed warm relations with Israel since then, was examining various ways to reassert its interests in the Middle East and elsewhere, and Abbas’ visit marked Putin’s first direct engagement in the peace process in four years. “The main goal of the Palestinian visitor is to obtain Russia’s support in anticipation of difficult negotiations with the Israelis,” the respected centrist daily Izvestia said yesterday.
“But the question remains open: Is Moscow ready at this time to support the representative of the late Arafat — not just with words but with concrete deeds?” the paper added, referring to the former Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Both the Palestinians and Israelis have taken several critical steps toward resuming peace talks since Arafat’s death.
