Middle East summit gets underway
The Palestinian summit, chaired by Tony Blair, opens in London today.
Officials from 23 countries and six world bodies will gather in London to assess how the Palestinian Authority can build “viable” and lasting political, economic and security structures.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas – will articulate a “comprehensive” vision for a future Palestinian state to high-ranking dignitaries including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana.
Representatives from the World Bank and IMF and permanent Security Council states Russia and China will also attend.
Israel is not, but is likely to be closely watching the outcome.
Ahead of the conference, Mr Abbas told The Independent: “We believe peace is possible now and we are ready to negotiate with Israel to reach a true and lasting peace based on justice and international legitimacy.
“We have an opportunity and it would be irresponsible if we, the Israelis, or the world allow it to slip away.”
On her way to the summit, Ms Rice called on the Palestinian Authority to fight militancy and find the perpetrators of the Tel Aviv suicide bombing.
“Ultimately people are going to have to be willing to fight terrorism, one way or another, and ultimately there is going to have to be both a desire and a capability to bring an end to the terrorist infrastructure that feeds attacks,” Ms Rice said.
“The best thing we can do is to improve the capability of the Palestinian security forces and the best thing that the Palestinians can do is to recognise that they have taken on, in the roadmap, a commitment to really fight the terrorists.”
Mr Abbas has said he believes a third party is at work aiming to destabilise the peace process.
A shadow has been cast over the meeting by a suicide bomb in Tel Aviv last Friday.
Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the attack acted as a “sombre background’ for the meeting.
