JERUSALEM, 28 February 2005 — Mahmoud Abbas hopes to capitalize on increasing international good will toward the Palestinians as he heads to London for a global conference aimed at reforming the Palestinian Authority and securing hundreds of millions of dollars in much needed financial aid.
Tomorrow’s meeting is not the major international peace gathering the Palestinian Authority leader had hoped for, despite the attendance of top American and European officials. While a suicide bombing that killed four Israelis on Friday cast a cloud over the gathering, many Palestinian officials see the conference as an important opportunity to build on their successes since the Nov. 11 death of longtime leader Yasser Arafat.
They point to the democratic presidential election won by Abbas, a new Cabinet dominated by highly educated professionals, rather than Arafat cronies, and a cease-fire commitment from militant groups. It remains unclear who carried out the Friday attack, challenging the cease-fire. All the major Palestinian militant groups in the West Bank and Gaza denied involvement, but then a representative of one, Islamic Jihad, issued a claim of responsibility in the Syrian capital Damascus.
The London conference, hosted by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, will gather US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, World Bank officials and foreign ministers from some 25 European and Arab countries. “The meeting provides us with a very good opportunity to seek and secure the international support that we need ... (for) boosting the political process and improving life conditions and helping us strengthen our institutions,” Palestinian Finance Minister Salam Fayyad told The Associated Press.
While welcoming the one-day gathering, Israel will not participate, highlighting the meeting’s focus on Palestinian nation-building as opposed to peacemaking. “When you talk about reforming Palestinian institutions, Israel, of course, supports that reform process, but we can’t be front and center in that process,” said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev.
Since Blair announced the meeting during his visit to the West Bank and Israel in December, he has insisted it would not focus on politics or Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. At a summit Feb. 8 in Egypt, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a mutual cease-fire designed to end four years of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
But the international community hasn’t pushed for more peace talks in fear renewed talks could lead to domestic pressures in Israel and endanger this summer’s planned Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank.
