AMMAN, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- In the latest diplomatic
activity aimed at facilitating the U.S.-proposed Middle East peace process,
Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday conferred with visiting international
Quartet envoy Tony Blair.
Abdullah told Blair that the upcoming peace
conference should tackle various outstanding issues between the Palestinians and
Israel, especially those pertaining to the final status including Jerusalem, the
Palestinian borders and the refugees.
"To ensure the success of the peace conference, all
parties concerned ... should work seriously in the coming few weeks to ensure
that the meeting comes up with positive results ... in establishing an
independent state on all Palestinian territories," said Abdullah.
The King suggested that the conference, slated for
November, should lay out a working plan with a "specific timetable." He also
urged the Palestinians and Israel to resume final status negotiations over those
thorny issues such as the Palestinian borders and Jerusalem.
Blair is on a two-week-long regional tour in the
Middle East, which had already taken him to Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian
territories.
Blair is expected to report the outcome of his
ongoing visit to the international Quartet, which groups the UN, the EU, the
U.S. and Russia, during its upcoming meeting slated for Sept. 23 in New York.
On July 16, U.S. President George W. Bush proposed to
held an international conference this fall, which would bring together Israel,
the Palestinians and some neighboring Arab states, to help resume the stalled
Middle East peace talks.
In one of the first diplomatic activities to prepare
for the upcoming conference, the two major roles, Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, met in Jerusalem on Aug. 28.
The Israeli side said Olmert-Abbas meeting was "very
constructive" and the two spoke about "fundamental issues that were necessary to
bring about the establishment of two states for people." While the Palestinian
side claimed that the meeting was "serious and in-depth."
Early this month, EU foreign policy chief Javier
Solana met with both Abbas and Olmert and stressed that the coming months would
see "intense" for peacemaking efforts.
Italian Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema and Austrian
Chancellor Alfred Gusenbauer also paid a visit to the region.
Early this month, Abdullah also toured France, Saudi
Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates in his party's efforts to energize
the peace process.
QUESTIONS AND DOUBTS AMONG ARABS
With their intense diplomatic efforts, Arab diplomats
and politicians seemed to embraced Bush's proposal and consider the upcoming
conference a good opportunity to resume Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, which
was at a deadlock since 2000.
Though so, the U.S.-proposed conference is still
facing many questions such as the agenda, real goal, the role of Syria, internal
Palestinian political crisis, and among others. Many Arabs were doubtful over
any significant achievement of the conference.
During a regular Arab League (AL) meeting held last
Wednesday in Cairo, some of the Arab parties said the U.S. initiative must be
dealt with cautiously.
"Arabs should not be surprised that the real aim may
be increasing normalization with Israel without a real breakthrough for the
Palestinians," said an Arab diplomat on condition of anonymity.
AL Secretary General Amr Moussa said that the
conference, if fails, would pose a threat to Arab interests and regional
stability.
"A meeting, convened as a political demonstration
without producing real substance, will not only be useless, but also will be
harmful to Arab interests and the regional situation," Moussa said.
The AL chief said a serious peace conference requires
the attendance of all Arab states directly concerned, apparently referring to
Syria, which has not been invited so far.
The upcoming conference should be based upon the
peace initiative adopted by Arab countries in 2002 and relevant UN resolutions,
said Moussa, adding that it should also deal with final status issues of the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
Abbas also had much concern. He said late August that
the incoming conference "lacks clarity" and it could fail if no clarification
for a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was devised.
After a meeting with Abdullah in Amman, Abbas told
Jordan Television that the conference would not be useful if the participants go
to it "without clarifications for a solution, and without a declaration of
principles within a framework."
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, a veteran
politician on the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, warned that if the
conference fails to produce a breakthrough, the negative repercussions would
affect the whole region, increase feelings of frustration and strengthen
extremism.
"This peace conference is an opportunity that should
not be lost," said Mubarak. "Further political efforts have to be exerted to
coordinate the stance of Arab and Western countries in a bid to secure the
Mideast peace conference a success."
A clear frame, agenda and timetable should be
clarified to ease the doubts about the significance of the conference, said
Mubarak.
