Success of Israel-Palestine deal in Annapolis under question
Thursday, 29 November 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov 28 (Agencies): US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pledging urgent follow-up work to Tuesday's Israeli-Palestinian agreement in Annapolis, Maryland to resume final-status peace negotiations after a seven-year interruption.
President Bush meets Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House Wednesday to help inaugurate the process.
Israelis and the Palestinians have reached an agreement on a joint document at the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland Tuesday night.
The agreement to re-start the talks was the result of weeks of US-led diplomacy, and administration officials say the deal was struck only a short time before President Bush announced it at the start of the Annapolis meeting.
Some commentators Wednesday dismissed the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian talks as a US-staged media event unlikely to lead to Middle East peace.
Some argued that US President George W. Bush's real aim in convening Tuesday's conference was to rescue his image after failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to persuade Arab states their deadliest foe was Iran, not Israel.
The parties agreed to the immediate launch of negotiations for a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict, and to make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.
They also committed to implement their respective obligations under the 2003 international road map to peace, and agreed that the United States will monitor and judge their fulfillment of the confidence-building plan.
The announcement gave no indication of progress on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute such the status of Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinian refugees, and US officials concede that the peace timetable announced by the leaders will be difficult to keep.
News commentary has focused on the likely outcome of the talks, with partisan forecasts of success or failure coming predictably from the various quarters concerned.
President Bush meets Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the White House Wednesday to help inaugurate the process.
Israelis and the Palestinians have reached an agreement on a joint document at the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland Tuesday night.
The agreement to re-start the talks was the result of weeks of US-led diplomacy, and administration officials say the deal was struck only a short time before President Bush announced it at the start of the Annapolis meeting.
Some commentators Wednesday dismissed the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian talks as a US-staged media event unlikely to lead to Middle East peace.
Some argued that US President George W. Bush's real aim in convening Tuesday's conference was to rescue his image after failures in Iraq and Afghanistan, or to persuade Arab states their deadliest foe was Iran, not Israel.
The parties agreed to the immediate launch of negotiations for a two-state solution of the Middle East conflict, and to make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.
They also committed to implement their respective obligations under the 2003 international road map to peace, and agreed that the United States will monitor and judge their fulfillment of the confidence-building plan.
The announcement gave no indication of progress on the core issues of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute such the status of Jerusalem and the rights of Palestinian refugees, and US officials concede that the peace timetable announced by the leaders will be difficult to keep.
News commentary has focused on the likely outcome of the talks, with partisan forecasts of success or failure coming predictably from the various quarters concerned.