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Spanish FM: Olmert, Abbas have 'very good basis for agreement' By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: peace talks, Palestinians  Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is seriously considering Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's proposal of an agreement in principle on the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos told Haaretz Monday after he met with the two leaders. "My conclusion from the talks with Olmert and Abu-Mazen [Abbas] is that the discussion and the proposals are extremely positive. I think that they are very close. I am convinced that these peace talks are going to be irreversible from what they have achieved. Whatever happens in Israeli internal politics and in the U.S. administration - both sides and the international community need to work to make them irreversible," Moratinos said. Moratinos said that in his meeting with Olmert, he received details of the main points of the Israeli prime minister's proposal to Abbas, and that the proposal was "based on a long series of bilateral negotiations" between Olmert and Abbas. Advertisement Moratinos said he thought Olmert's proposal was "a good proposal and that they have a very good basis for an agreement." This afternoon, Abbas is to hold another meeting with Olmert at the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, and according to the Spanish foreign minister, the Palestinian may then give Olmert his answer. Moratinos said Abbas was "impressed by the proposal and he is studying it. They are quite impressed by the proposal and they see it as a serious proposal. In general they consider it positively - but they still need to make the decision." In a meeting of his own with Moratinos on Sunday night, Olmert told the Spanish foreign minister that he was concerned over pressure being applied by senior Palestinian officials on the PA president to say no to Olmert's proposal for an agreement in principle on the core issues. Olmert told Moratinos that some Palestinian officials had fallen in love with the negotiations and are trying to thwart an agreement. Olmert was apparently referring to Ahmed Qureia, who is in charge of the talks with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and is urging Abbas to continue the talks into 2009. Moratinos is encouraging Abbas to accept Olmert's proposal. He has also discussed the matter with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and will be in Damascus tomorrow for talks with President Bashar Assad. Over the past two years, Moratinos has been one of the few European foreign ministers who has continued to come to Damascus for talks with Assad. Moratinos told Haaretz that he was pleased that French President Nicolas Sarkozy had gone to Syrian capital, and that Europe understood that isolation was not a useful policy. "Syria is an essential player in the Middle East, and without engaging with Syria it is very difficult to have a comprehensive peace," Moratinos said, adding, "it is very important to continue this process of reconciliation between Syria and the international community. "From the beginning, when we have this policy in certain Western countries to isolate Syria, Spain had a different policy," Moratinos explained. Moratinos also said he was optimistic about negotiations between Israel and Syria, because both countries, as well as Turkey, which has hosted the meetings, all had very positive things to say to him about the talks. "They know the agenda, because it is not new negotiations - they went very far in Shepherdstown, in the period of Barak, and both sides know what can be the base for the agreement." Moratinos was referring to talks led by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Shara in Shepherdstown, West Virginia, in January 2000. Moratinos served for years as the European Union's envoy to the Middle East and as Spain's ambassador to Israel, and knows the Israeli political system well. His visit this week to Israel signaled a reconciliation with Olmert, who had refused to meet the Spanish foreign minister for a long period because Moratinos had met with the deputy secretary general of Hezbollah, Naim Kassem, in Lebanon about six months ago. Olmert was also reportedly irked by Moratinos' attempt to promote an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue several months before the Annapolis conference of November 2007. Olmert is also said to have transmitted a message to Moratinos saying that "he does not understand anything about the Middle East." Moratinos sounded mollified on Monday. "There was not tension but different positions during the Lebanon crisis and there was exaggeration by some people. There was no tension, and we are good friends." Moratinos also told Haaretz: "The Israelis became anxious about an idea of an international conference, and after a couple of months we had one in Annapolis, and when I met the number 2 in Hezbollah, it was a surprise, and I used this meeting to convey a massage about the Israeli soldiers that were kidnapped. That was exaggerated. On the vital issues for Israel we support you - in some issues we differ." Related articles: Olmert voices sorrow for plight of Palestinian, Jewish refugees Abbas to Haaretz: We will compromise on refugees Fayyad: World support for peace is meaningless unless Israel halts settlement expansion Bookmark to del.icio.us   Saddam in Tel Aviv Israel's Igal Naor 'never wanted to play Hamlet, only Saddam.' The preacher Archbishop Tutu to UN: Israel may have committed war crime.   1.   The Spanish connection:a LONG history of hating Jews 02:39  |  Arie 16/09/08   2.   Tendencies to delusion, wishful thinking. 07:27  |  Jean Van Daem 16/09/08   3.   On Negev Desert 10:43  |  Clickfool 16/09/08   4.   Spanish FM,Moratinos the good diplomat.! 10:49  |  Stephen. 16/09/08   5.   "good basis for agreement" Abbas wants it all and Olmert want to 10:58  |  redmike 16/09/08   6.   Olmert has indeed revived the spirit & standard of Annapolis 13:35  |  Ivar 16/09/08   7.   99.9% of lands is good BASIS for agreement 14:01  |  Helm of Chelm 16/09/08   8.   THE BASIS FOR AN ACCORD? VATICAN! 16:36  |  Barry S. Roffman 16/09/08

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