Last update - 00:00 03/12/2007
In Syria, chief PA negotiator promises to coordinate on peace talks
By The Associated Press
A visiting envoy for Abbas promised Monday to continue coordination with Syria as the Palestinians work to reach a peace agreement with Israel before the end of next year.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia's comments came after a meeting with Syrian Vice President Farouk Shara and Foreign Minister Walid Moallem to discuss the recent U.S.-sponsored Mideast peace conference, which set the stage for renewed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
"We announce that we will stay in full coordination with Syria and the Arabs during future negotiations," Qureia said.
At the recent summit in Annapolis, Maryland, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said they would aim to reach a peace deal in 2008. But Olmert told the cabinet on Sunday that Israel did not regard the December 2008 peace deal target date as a deadline.
"The [Annapolis] joint statement said that by the end of 2008 the final status negotiations should end," Qureia told reporters after Monday's meeting. "If Olmert says other than that, then he is responsible for what he says."
The Palestinian envoy added that "we are committed to working seriously to reach an agreement before the end of 2008."
The two sides have agreed to hold their first formal negotiating session in the region on December 12.
During Qureia's visit Monday, he met with Nayef Hawatmeh, head of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), one of several radical Palestinian factions based in Syria that are opposed to peace with Israel.
A PFLP statement said the two officials stressed that the Annapolis follow-up conference tentatively scheduled for Moscow in the spring should focus on peace negotiations between Israel and Syria, as well as with the Palestinians.
Syria sent its Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad to the Annapolis conference after the agenda was revised to include discussion of the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau captured by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Also Monday, Abbas met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in the capital of Amman to brief the Arab leader on the outcome of his talks with U.S. administration officials on the sidelines of the meeting in Annapolis, according to a royal palace statement.
During the closed-door meeting, Abdullah "urged the Israelis and Palestinians to seize the opportunity provided by the Annapolis, Maryland, peace conference to achieve tangible progress in their peacemaking, the statement said.
The king said the upcoming negotiations must lead to "the establishment of a viable Palestinian state on their national soil in the West Bank and Gaza Strip."
With Palestinians divided between a Fatah-controlled West Bank and a Hamas-dominated Gaza Strip, Abdullah's goal could prove difficult.
In Damascus, the Syrian officials who met with Qureia stressed the importance of Palestinian unity as a basis for the future negotiations with Israel.
Mubarak: Annapolis summit could lead to peace with Syria, Lebanon
The Middle East summit in Annapolis could lead to comprehensive peace in the region, including Syria and Lebanon, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Monday.
Mubarak said last week's US-hosted conference will lead to the creation of an independent Palestinian state and will open the way to comprehensive peace on the other two axes - Syria and Lebanon. He did not elaborate.
Mubarak met Greek President Karolos Papoulias at the start of a three-day visit to the country. Their talks included the Middle East peace process and developments in Iraq, Darfur and Somalia, as well as cooperation between Mediterranean countries.
Papoulias said the Annapolis summit was a first step of progress.
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