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US vows support to Mideast peace process
WASHINGTON
Petroleumworld.com 11 29 07
The United States pledged full support to the revived Israeli-Palestinian peace process, warning that failure would lead to more bloodshed amid doubts that a deal can be reached next year.
US President George W. Bush made the promise Wednesday after meeting with the Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the White House, after the two sides committed to sealing a peace deal by the end of 2008.
But the problems faced by the two sides were highlighted by a new Israeli air raid and another attack on the Gaza Strip in which four Hamas activists were killed. Hamas has insisted that Palestinians will not be bound by any decisions take at the Middle East peace conference in the United States this week.
But Bush -- speaking with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas quietly looking at the White House -- declared: "I wouldn't be standing here if I didn't believe that peace was possible, and they wouldn't be here either if they didn't think peace was possible."
"One thing I've assured both gentlemen is that the United States will be actively engaged in the process," Bush pledged.
"We will use our power to help you as you come up with the necessary decisions to lay out a Palestinian state that will live side by side in peace with Israel."
Abbas said the US-hosted peace conference this week had put back "on track" prospects for an independent Palestinian state.
"The result we reached makes us optimistic. We came with an aim and we think we have attained it," Abbas told reporters.
The US president, who called the conference "a hopeful beginning," did not invite Abbas or Olmert to speak at the White House Rose Garden event, and the three leaders did not shake hands.
It was in sharp contrast to the ebullient 1993 handshake on the nearby South Lawn between US President Bill Clinton, late Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
Abbas and Olmert -- like Bush, politically weakened -- were to return home to confront sharp skepticism from friends and foes alike over the latest peace drive launched at the conference in Annapolis, Maryland.
A poll published Thursday in the Israeli daily Haaretz found that 42 percent of Israelis believe the conference was a failure, while 17 percent thought otherwise.
The rest were undecided.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that failure would lead to more violence in the region
"I clearly understand that failure is not an option here," Rice told ABC television. "And I think that the parties understand that, more importantly. But inaction's also not an option."
"If you do nothing to try to resolve this conflict, (if) the parties don't try to resolve this conflict, you're going to have years and years more of the deprivation, the humiliation of the occupation, and of the terror associated with this for the Israelis," she said.
The new peace push won a cautious show of support from the 22-member Arab League, whose chief Amr Mussa cited "misgivings" but warily welcomed the agreement to thaw negotiations which have been frozen during Bush's seven years in office.
"We want to give this opportunity a chance," Mussa said. "During the next two months we will test the Israelis' intentions to see if they are serious, or if this is just another game."
All sides are now looking ahead to a December 12 meeting of Israelis and Palestinians, a December 17 donor's conference in Paris, a planned conference in Russia in early 2008, and bi-weekly meetings between Abbas and Olmert as agreed in Annapolis.
"The real challenge comes after Annapolis, with how things evolve to ensure the success of negotiations aimed at creating a Palestinian state before Bush leaves office," said Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Washington "can certainly understand people's skepticism" about the prospects for peace before Bush leaves office in January 2009, but hailed Annapolis as "a successful conference."
"The follow-through is really important, and it's going to take a lot of effort and time and commitment," she said.
Major differences remain over core issues like the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
But Rice touted newfound Arab support for a drive to end the six-decade conflict, including the Syrian and Saudi presence at Annapolis, as a reason "for hope and for optimism."
She also named former NATO commander, General James Jones, as the US government's new special envoy for security arrangements between a future Palestinian state and its neighbors.
Story by Olivier Knox from AFP 27
AFP 29 0925 GMT 11 07
Copyright© 2007 Petroleumworld. All rights reserved.
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