By Avi Issacharoff, Shmuel Rosner and Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondents - 21/09/2006
UNITED NATIONS - The Quartet of international Middle East peace mediators welcomed on Wednesday efforts to create a Palestinian national unity government, even though its platform remains unclear.
The United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations said in a joint statement: "The Quartet welcomes the efforts of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to form a government of national unity, in the hope that the platform of such a government would reflect Quartet principles and allow for early engagement."
They also agreed to extend and expand a temporary international mechanism to channel aid to the Palestinians bypassing the existing Hamas-led government and encouraged Israel to hand over some $500 million in tax and customs revenues it is withholding from the Palestinians.
The statement, endorsed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, mirrored almost word for word an EU statement last week. UN and European diplomats said it represented a significant easing of the United States` stance toward the Palestinian Authority since Hamas took it over this year.
Rice played down talk of a U.S. shift, telling reporters: "If indeed there is going to be a government which is able to govern, it is going to need the support of the international community and it needs to be committed to peace."
European External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said she wanted to see the temporary aid mechanism expanded "as much as we can" to ease the economic hardship among Palestinians.
The Quartet also endorsed a move by Annan to revive the role of former World Bank president James Wolfensohn to report on the economic and humanitarian situation on the ground.
Wolfensohn quit in April in disagreement with the decision to cut all but humanitarian aid to the Hamas-led government.
Abbas: Palestinians want peace
Palestinian Authority Chairman Abbas on Wednesday told President George W. Bush that the Palestinian people want peace, adding that nothing would stop them from moving toward that goal.
"The Palestinian people desire peace, and there is no power on Earth that can prevent the Palestinian people from moving toward the peaceful solution and living and coexisting in peace," Abbas said.
"We will always be faithful and truthful to peace, and we will not disappoint you," he added.
The leading Palestinian party Hamas, however, is sworn to Israel`s destruction and has rebuffed international demands to recognize Israel and renounce violence, Abbas said,
Bush described Abbas on Wednesday as "a man of peace" who can help advance Mideast talks that stalled after Hamas militants swept into power during the last elections.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Abbas told Bush, "We are in dire need of your help and support."
The meeting came while the two leaders were in New York to attend the General Assembly. In a speech there Tuesday, Bush said achieving peace in the Middle East was one of the great objectives of his presidency.
"I fully understand that in order to achieve this vision there must be leaders willing to speak out and act on behalf of people who yearn for peace," Bush said at the end of his meeting with Abbas when reporters were invited in. "And you are such a leader, Mr. President."
Bush was expected to press Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas during their meeting on Wednesday not to join a national unity government with Hamas if it does not accept the three conditions posed by the international Quartet - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
The American administration wants to continue bolstering Abbas, but at this stage it has not announced a new policy regarding the PA and is waiting until the new PA government has been formed.
Rice: Unity gov`t deal does not meet Quartet terms
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that the new unity government deal made by Fatah and Hamas does not meet three conditions set by the Quartet, Al Ayam reported.
National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who is in New York with the president, told reporters before dawn on Tuesday that the question of whether Hamas would agree to meet the Quartet`s demands is "the 64 million dollar question." Hadley called Abbas one of the "voices of moderation" and said that the U.S. supports him and "would continue to work with him."
The Americans have held energetic talks on the Palestinian issue in the past few days, both within the administration and with Israel`s foreign minister, Tzipi Livni. In their public statement, Rice and officials in her office repeatedly underscored the Quartet`s conditions for Hamas: recognizing Israel, renouncing terrorism and accepting previous agreements.
The Quartet itself is scheduled to convene on Thursday in New York to discuss the developments in the Israeli-Palestinian arena, and this subject is also on the agenda of the UN Security Council.
Rice met with Abbas on Tuesday in New York and presented him with American concerns regarding the new government he is forming.
Sources in the U.S. have emphasized in recent days that the administration wants to resume moving forward in the Palestinian arena, but said it is too early to say how that will be done so long as the identity of the partner on the Palestinian side has not been clarified.
Israel last week expressed cautious willingness to hand over in the near future one or two West Bank towns to the presidential security force under Abbas` control - if it turns out that this force is capable of maintaining order. The presidential security force was built and trained by the U.S. security coordinator for the region, Lieutenant General Keith W. Dayton, and the Americans want it to serve as a counterweight to the other security forces controlled by the Hamas government.
Foreign Minister Livni met with Abbas before dawn Tuesday at UN headquarters in New York. Livni later described the meeting as "good and very important" and said it had included "important content on the immediate level and for the long term."
Speaking to Israeli reporters after the meeting, Livni said that she had demanded the immediate release of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
"This was not a one-time meeting," Livni added, saying that further talks were agreed upon, including a meeting to be scheduled between Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Livni emphasized to Abbas that the terms posed by the Quartet as a prerequisite to recognizing the Hamas government remain in effect vis-a-vis possible changes in the Palestinian regime.
"I do not deal in forming coalitions outside of Israel," Livni said. "The international community set three terms that are not open to negotiation or interpretation."
Livni also raised the subject of Shalit in her meeting Monday evening with her Egyptian counterpart, Ahmed Aboul Gheit. The Egyptian foreign minister told Livni that it is evident to all concerned that the Shalit affair must be resolved quickly in order to move ahead on other matters. After the meeting, Aboul Gheit told reporters that he is optimistic regarding Shalit`s release and believes "it will be over soon."
Relatives of the two soldiers kidnapped to Lebanon, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, are currently in New York and will attend several of Livni`s meetings with foreign ministers and leaders of various countries. Goldwasser`s wife, Karnit, attended Livni`s meeting with the president of Finland, Tarja Halonen, whose country currently holds the presidency of the European Union.
