CAIRO, Oct 3: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Palestinians on Tuesday to form a government that will respect principles set out by world powers in an effort to re-launch the stalled peace process with Israel.
She arrived in Cairo for talks with “moderate” Arab counterparts after kicking off a regional tour in Saudi Arabia with an appeal for an end to Palestinian infighting.
Rice flew in from the Saudi city of Jeddah to meet with foreign ministers from Egypt, Jordan and the monarchies that make up the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) — Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Kuwait.
In Jeddah, Rice said “all parties need to be dedicated to helping young governments in places like Lebanon, Iraq, and helping the Palestinians, but most of all, helping the moderate forces against the extremist forces.”
Asked what to do about deadly recent internecine Palestinian clashes between the ruling Hamas movement and its rival Fatah, Rice said “the answer is for the Palestinians to find a government that can be committed to the quartet principles.”
“Innocent Palestinians are caught in this violence. I call on all parties to stop this violence,” said Rice, with 10 Palestinians killed and more than 100 wounded in two days of clashes in the West Bank and Gaza.
The quartet for Middle East peace — the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States — drafted the so-called “roadmap” that envisions an independent Palestinian state living side by side in peace with Israel.
But after the radical Hamas movement formed a government last March, the quartet nations withheld all direct financial aid to the Palestinian Authority over Hamas’s refusal to recognise the Jewish state, renounce violence and respect former agreements with Israel.
The quartet conditioned the removal of the financial and political boycott on abiding by these conditions.
Political sources in Amman said some Arab countries were concerned that talks with Rice not be dominated by Iran’s nuclear row with the West, with Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdel Ilah Khatib saying the Palestinian issue was vital.
“Jordan and other Arab countries will insist that priority be given to solving the Palestinian question, which is at the core of the Middle East conflict,” Khatib said before heading to Cairo.
“The absence of a solution to this question is the cause of tensions and frustrations in the Middle East,” Khatib said.
Rice is also seeking to bolster Arab support for Washington’s drive to haul Iran before the UN Security Council over its controversial drive for nuclear power which Washington says is a cover for acquiring nuclear weapons.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, after a meeting with Rice, rejected the idea of an “axis” grouping Washington and moderate Arab states, at a time of increased anti-US sentiment in the region.
“There is no question of a group making up an axis; the idea is not even conceivable,” Abul Gheit told reporters.
These meetings allow a degree of “influence on the US vision to re-launch the peace process,” he said.
US President George W. Bush called last month for Rice to travel to the region “to engage moderate leaders ... to help the Palestinians reform their security services, and support Israeli and Palestinian leaders in their efforts to come together to resolve their differences.”
The worst violence in the territories since Hamas came to power erupted at the weekend after Hamas tried to prevent Fatah loyalists from protesting over non-payment of salaries, which they have not received in full since Hamas came to power.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas prime minister Ismail Haniya are engaged in efforts to form a national unity cabinet with the aim of lifting the Western aid freeze.—AFP
AP adds from Cairo that :
Rice was to meet today with Abbas as part of her visit to the Middle East. She is seeking to boost Abbas in his standoff with Hamas radicals who control part of the Palestinian government.
Rice got both a polite hearing and a lecture Tuesday from United States` two most powerful friends in the Arab world. Saudi Arabia and Egypt both said the Middle East`s many volatile conflicts are hinged to Israel`s long conflict with the Palestinians.
Arab nations, including the few moderate states that are key to U.S. goals in Iraq, Iran and Lebanon, view improving the Palestinians` lot as essential. They argue that the festering grievances of the stateless Palestinians feed unrest and radicalism elsewhere.
"The issue is how to make peace, and in order to make peace you have to identify the problem," Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said during a sometimes strained news conference with Rice.
"We think and we claim and we keep telling everybody that it is the Palestinian problem, and the lack of a settlement for the Palestinians. The Palestinian problem is the scourge of this region," Gheit said.
Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said the nearly 60-year-old conflict was creating a "breeding ground for extremism."
"There is a very short step from extremism to terrorism," Saud said with Rice by his side in Jedda, Saudi Arabia. "And ever since the problem arose of Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the region has been destabilized."
Rice`s talks in Ramallah will be the administration`s third meeting in less than three weeks with Abbas, whom President Bush called a "man of courage" for trying to revive Mideast peace talks.
Rice wants Saudi Arabia and Egypt to put greater diplomatic muscle behind the secular Palestinian president in his standoff with Hamas militants, and to bolster moderate secular governments in Lebanon and Iraq.
Rice met in Cairo with diplomats from Egypt and seven other Arab allies in hopes of reviving the moribund Arab-Israeli peace process and making headway on other regional issues. During that session the ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council and Egypt and Jordan gave broad support to Abbas, Rice said.
Egypt is a longtime mediator among Palestinian factions and between Israel and the Palestinians, and its exasperation with Hamas may signal a turning point.
Israel wants to reopen dialogue with Abbas and work with him to establish a Palestinian state. But Abbas has been in a weakened position since January when Hamas, which seeks the destruction of Israel, won the Palestinian elections.
