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Mideast conference malaise
21/10/2007 21:51 - (SA)
Ben-Gurion Airport - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said on Sunday a US-sponsored conference on Palestinian statehood would not yield a peace breakthrough as he sought to head off a revolt by rightist coalition partners.
Two members of Olmert's coalition have threatened to quit
the government if the conference, expected to be held in late
November or early December, tackles the most sensitive issues,
including control of Jerusalem and its holy sites.
Israeli allegations about a suspected Palestinian plot
against Olmert's life cast a further shadow over preparations
for the conference as the prime minister departed for talks in
France and Britain.
Teams to draft a joint document
Olmert expressed "great displeasure" but said it would not
derail talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
He told reporters ahead of a meeting with his cabinet that the conference was "not meant to be an event on its own or an event for an agreement or a historic breakthrough".
Olmert said the conference in Annapolis, Maryland, should
instead be viewed as a chance for the international community to
support statehood negotiations, expected to begin formally after the meeting.
Olmert and Abbas have instructed their negotiating teams to
draft a joint document for the conference that addresses
so-called final status issues, including borders and the fate of
Jerusalem and millions of Palestinian refugees.
The document is meant to serve as the basis for formal
statehood negotiations which Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
said should be concluded by August.
Strategic Affairs Minister Avigdor Lieberman, the leading
far-right member of Olmert's coalition government, said he
warned the Bush administration that Olmert's government could
collapse if talks go too far.
Cabinet Minister Eli Yishai, who heads the ultra-Orthadox
Shas party, said he also warned US Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice during her visit last week that the conference
"could shake-up the government".
The collapse of Olmert's coalition could usher in new Israeli
elections and possibly paralyse peace moves for the rest of U.S.
President George W. Bush's term.
Israel's internal security chief told the cabinet on Sunday
of a plot to attack Olmert's convoy en route to a meeting with
Abbas in the West Bank town of Jericho.
Meet French president for talks
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said the suspects
were taken into custody in June and freed after three months
because Palestinian authorities concluded there was no imminent
danger. After Israel protested, the men were detained again, a
Palestinian security source said.
"We are trying to do the very best we can to bring law and
order to our cities, villages and every area that is under our
control. We are doing our best," Fayyad told reporters in
Jerusalem before meeting with Israeli lawmakers.
Olmert arrives in Paris later on Sunday and will meet with
French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Monday.
On Tuesday he will meet British Prime Minister Gordon Brown
in London before returning to Jerusalem.
Iran's nuclear programme and the Annapolis conference on
Palestinian statehood will top the agenda for the talks, which
will be Olmert's first with both leaders since they took office.
- Reuters
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