Abbas-Sharon meeting ends on upbeat note
Recently inaugurated Palestinian prime minister Mahmud Abbas and Israeli counterpart Ariel Sharon shared a second series of talks in Jerusalem on the US-backed peace ‘road map’ for peace in the Middle East on Thursday in a ‘positive and very good atmosphere’.
Parties prevaricated earlier in the week on the timing of the meeting as political shenanigans threatened to stall and disrupt discussions.
But after the two-and-a-half-hour meeting, Israel said it was working on improving conditions for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip but would not commit at present to a full troop pullout.
A Palestinian statement said both sides were committed to making meetings with key players in the quartet of peace brokers a ‘success.’
The road map traces a three stage plan leading to an end to violence and the creation of a Palestinian state by 2005.
The two leaders met at Mr. Sharon’s Jerusalem office, according to Nabil Abu, a spokesman for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The meeting, which was postponed earlier in the week, came ahead of a summit next week in the Red Sea resort of Aqaba, Jordan, next week with US President George W. Bush.
Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath and security chief Mohammed Dahlan are attended the meeting.
President Bush will also visit Egypt Qatar between June 2 to 5.
In an interview with the Israeli newspaper Haaretz Mr. Abbas said the ‘road map’, backed by a ‘quartet’ of peace brokers – United States, European Union, Russian Federation and the United Nations – presented a ‘historic opportunity’ for ‘normalcy’ in war-torn occupied territories.
Mr. Abbas beseeched Israelis to ‘follow the map and don’t waste time over details.’
But one potential sticking point in further meetings is Yasser Arafat’s inclusion in the deliberations.
Mr. Abbas has demanded Mr. Arafat, who is under house arrest, be allowed to move freely.
