AMMAN/GAZA CITY, 15 March 2007 — Jordan’s King Abdallah yesterday urged Arab countries to unite and relaunch a Saudi initiative for peace with Israel ahead of a summit in Riyadh later this month.
“We must coordinate Arab positions to ensure the Riyadh summit comes out with effective resolutions for the challenges facing our Arab nation,” the king said during talks with Saudi and Egyptian foreign ministers.
“Arab countries must strive to unite their positions, particularly by giving new momentum to the Arab peace initiative that was adopted at the 2002 Beirut summit,” the king said, according to a royal court statement.
The king made the remarks during talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit and his Saudi counterpart Prince Saud Al-Faisal, whose country will host an Arab summit on March 28-29.
Israel too is hoping that the summit will tackle the initiative but is asking for modifications in the initiative proposed by Saudi Arabia at the 2002 summit in the Lebanese capital. The initiative calls for the normalization of Arab ties with Israel in exchange for its pullout from Arab land occupied in 1967 and the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Earlier this week Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the initiative contained positive elements but also “two additional clauses very problematic for Israel” concerning the right of return of Palestinian refugees.
One calls for the return of Palestinians who fled or were forced out in 1948, the other rules out their permanent settlement in the Arab states where they or their descendants currently live.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is scheduled to arrive in the region on March 25, is expected to press the three moderate Arab countries — Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia — for leading efforts to amend the Arab peace plan, Arab diplomats said.
However, Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib seemed to reject such pressures when he told reporters after yesterday’s meeting that “the Arab peace initiative is an Arab declaration of principles which is logical and acceptable to the world community”.
The Arab plan is expected to be high on the agenda of the Quartet’s forthcoming meeting which is scheduled to be held in Cairo at the end of this month with Rice’s participation.
The meeting will also be attended by the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, according to the European Union’s policy chief Javier Solana.
King Abdallah also reviewed with Prince Saud and Aboul Gheit efforts under way to “form a Palestinian national government” in accordance with the Makkah agreement that was concluded on Feb. 8 between the Palestinian main groups of Fatah and Hamas.
The Jordanian leader urged a Pan-Arab effort “to lift the economic siege” that was imposed by the United States and the European Union on the Palestinian areas after the Hamas movement scored a landslide victory in last year’s elections.
Meanwhile, Hamas and Fatah will present a national unity government to Parliament for approval on Saturday, in hopes of ending deadly internal fighting and leading the Palestinians out of international isolation.
The decision by moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah and Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas, made at a meeting yesterday, capped months of stop-and-go coalition talks alternating with periods of bloodshed.
Abbas and Haniyeh were to meet again to wrap up loose ends, including who will be named to hold key position of interior minister and take control of the security forces. In all, Hamas will get nine Cabinet posts and Fatah will get six.
Fatah legislator Abdullah Abdullah said the party’s Parliament faction chief, Azzam Al-Ahmed, has been chosen as deputy prime minister, but no other appointments were announced. Al-Ahmed, who enjoys strong party support, was chosen over Salam Fayyad, an independent economist widely respected by the international community.
Abbas and Haniyeh were to make a formal announcement on the formation of the coalition after their evening meeting, Abbas aides said.
Deputy Parliament Speaker Ahmed Bahar, meanwhile, confirmed he has been asked to convene a session Saturday for a vote of confidence in the new government. The two sides were eager to complete the coalition talks ahead of the Arab summit in Riyadh.
Hamas and Fatah have been talking since fall on forming a more moderate coalition that Abbas hopes will end the boycott the West clamped on the Hamas government after it swept parliamentary elections a year ago. But the negotiations collapsed repeatedly — often over Hamas’ refusal to yield to international demands to recognize Israel — and the breakdowns often sparked rounds of deadly factional fighting in Gaza.
It was the hope of ending the bloodshed that led Abbas to agree to a power-sharing deal that would fall short of international demands that Hamas recognize Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace accords between Israel and the Palestinians. Abbas has told Western powers that regard Hamas as a terror group that the deal reached last month in Makkah was the best he could wrest from Hamas.
The Makkah agreement left much vague — including a fuzzy reference to “respect” past agreements with Israel. And negotiations since the deal was reached have had their own share of obstacles, including the Interior Ministry appointment. Israel maintained its wait-and-see approach to the emerging Palestinian government.
“We expect the new Palestinian government to accept all three of the international principles,” Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said.
Israel also expects to see an Israeli soldier captured in June by Hamas-affiliated fighters freed before the new government convenes, Eisin said.
In another development, explosions damaged or destroyed two houses in the Gaza Strip yesterday in renewed factional fighting. Members of Hamas’ Executive Force attacked a house with rocket propelled grenades near Gaza City, not far from where unidentified gunmen on Tuesday shot dead a member of the group’s armed wing, local residents said.
Hamas blamed security forces loyal to President Abbas for the killing of Ala Al-Haddad, Gaza City commander of Hamas’ armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades. Fatah denied any responsibility.
“We are innocents,” said Naeema Khalifa, who owns the house that was destroyed by the Executive Force. She said the house was not used by rival gunmen who carried out the attack. “Nothing was left. Even the clothes were burned,” Khalifa said. There was no immediate comment from the Executive Force.
— With input from agencies
