Last update - 00:00 09/09/2007
Jordan's king meets Blair, voices support for Quartet efforts
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent and Agencies
King Abdullah II of Jordan conferred Sunday with the Middle East Quartet's envoy, Tony Blair, and renewed his country's support for the group's efforts aimed at shoring up confidence between Israel and the Palestinians, according to an official statement.
"The monarch expressed backing for the efforts being exerted by the Quartet with a view to narrowing the gap and boosting confidence between the Palestinians and Israelis ahead of the international conference on the Middle East peace that was proposed by U.S. President George W Bush," the statement from the royal court said.
"To ensure the conference be a success, all parties concerned with the peace process should work seriously in the coming few weeks to ensure that the meeting comes up with positive results that fulfils the aspirations of the Palestinian people in establishing an independent state on all Palestinian territories," it added.
The Jordanian leader stressed the need for putting the final status issues - Jerusalem, refugees, settlements and frontiers - on the agenda of the international conference.
The talks between King Abdullah and Blair came ahead of a meeting set for Monday between Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Blair, who stepped down as British prime minister three months ago, met with Abbas on Thursday to discuss preparations for the international conference.
Blair, who is currently on a tour of the region, briefed King Abdullah on the outcome of his talks with regional leaders, the statement said.
Mubarak casts doubt on Mideast peace summit
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Sunday that without proper preparations or a clear agenda, the upcoming U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference will be a failure, echoing doubts of other regional leaders.
"Until now, I personally, see that there is no clear agenda, and I don't even know if it will be a conference or a one-day meeting as some circles recently talked about," Mubarak told reporters in response to a question about the conference, which is tentatively scheduled for November.
"The thing that I most fear is that the lack of acceptable preparations will lead to no results," Mubarak said while touring industrial projects in the southern Egyptian town of Sohag.
Mubarak's comments resemble those made by Arab foreign ministers who met in the Egyptian capital of Cairo on Wednesday to develop a unified stand toward the conference. They demanded that the meeting work toward a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians rather than simply be a diplomatic show.
Abbas has been meeting regularly with Israeli officials for several months about ways to revive the peace process. So far, there have been few concrete results, with Israel preferring to focus on general outlines and the Palestinians pressing for detailed talks on the main issues.
On Tuesday, Mubarak, who met separately with King Abdullah II of Jordan, Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair and Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema, warned that the conference should not be another lost chance similar to previous meetings.
Mubarak also warned Tuesday that if the conference failed to produce a breakthrough, the negative repercussions would affect the whole area, increase feelings of frustration and strengthen extremism.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected in the Middle East later this month to try to get the sides to agree on an outline for a future peace agreement ahead of the U.S.-sponsored conference.
Abbas to press Olmert on Accord of Principles in Monday meeting
Abbas will press Olmert to begin drafting a proposed agreement on statehood principles during talks on Monday, Abbas aides said.
The aides said Olmert and Abbas, who will meet in Jerusalem, have made some progress in recent talks towards narrowing differences over the nature of a future Palestinian state ahead of the conference expected in November.
But Israeli officials said differences remained over the scope of any agreement - Olmert wants to keep the statehood principles vague while Abbas wants them to be detailed.
Israeli and Palestinian officials have sent mixed messages about the extent of discussions so far over final status issues that include Jerusalem, final borders, Palestinian refugees and settlements.
"Some progress has been achieved between the two leaders on some final status issues," a senior Palestinian official who insisted on anonymity told Reuters. He declined to give details.
"But nothing has been put in writing so far and we expect them to agree in Monday's meeting to ask joint committees to start drafting points of agreement," the official said.
Olmert's spokesman, David Baker, said drafting has not yet started. "Nothing is at a drafting stage at this point. We're hoping for continued progress with the Palestinians," he said.
Another senior Abbas aide Nimer Hammad told Reuters the Palestinians hoped an agreement with the Israelis would include details on how final status issues would be resolved.
"The Palestinians hope that during Monday's meeting the two leaders will agree to start drafting the points of agreement to pave the way for finalizing a framework agreement on final status issues," he said.
"These include some details on how final status issues would be resolved. The agreement points between the two leaders could be pursued by joint committees so that the sides can finalize an agreement before the November conference," Hammad said.
However, sources in the Prime Minister's Bureu told Haaretz on Saturday that Olmert's meeting with Abbas is not specifically designed to produce results for the regional conference.
The comments were in reference to a request from Assistant Secretary of State David Welch during his visit to Israel last week.
Welch asked Olmert's aides how Rice could "speed up negotiations" between the two leaders in order to prepare them for the summit.
The U.S. administration wants the talks between Abbas and Olmert to produce tangible results, Welch said. He was in the region to prepare for the visit by the Rice.
Olmert's aides said that "both Palestinians and Israelis are taking it slow. The two parties understand that it will take some time before understandings are achieved."
A senior government source said that Monday's meeting, or the meeting after that, "will determine whether conditions are right for broadening the scope of negotiations, and for work on the agreement of principles."