Jerusalem - The international meeting on the Middle East
called by US President George W Bush was scheduled to take place on
November 26 in Annapolis, Maryland, the Israeli Ha'aretz daily
reported Friday, quoting Israeli officials.
Washington, however, has yet to make an official announcement as
to the conference's final date, location and participants and no
immediate confirmation was available.
The conference was initially expected to take place in mid-
November, but the sides are said to have asked for more time over
friction regarding the meeting's aim.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert are working on a joint declaration toward the conference,
but while Abbas wants this to be a binding agreement that can serve
as the basis of a final peace deal, Olmert wants a more limited, less
detailed declaration of 'understandings.'
Israeli officials said the joint statement might touch on the core
issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including the borders of
a future Palestinian state, the fate of the more than 4.4 million
registered Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.
But, they said, such a reference would be non-committal and made
only to those issues that enjoyed clear agreement.
Abbas and Olmert Wednesday held their fifth preparatory meeting
since Bush announced the conference in mid-July, as mutual
negotiating teams are set to start working on the statement.
The US State Department meanwhile announced that Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice would depart on October 14 for a week-long
trip to the region, in what seems a final bid to bring the parties
closer ahead of the summit.
Palestinian Information Minister Riyad Malki, earlier said the
Palestinians wanted the November meeting to relaunch long-stalled
negotiations on a final peace deal which should last no longer than
six months and end with another conference.
The negotiations should have a 'limited timeline,' he said, and
'continue for six months, after which the Palestinians and Israelis
will meet again with the countries that participated in the
international meeting to adopt the peace treaty and to witness the
signature on it by the Palestinians, Israelis and the rest of the
countries,' he told a Ramallah news conference.
The Palestinian people would then vote on the treaty in a
referendum, he added.
Aides to Olmert, by contrast, have said he currently wants no
final status negotiations that could spark a break-up of his shaky
coalition.
And it is far from clear whether the Israeli premier will
be able to avoid early elections after the publication of a final
report by a commission of inquiry into the war due later this year.
Malki, meanwhile, said the US was to invite a broad range of
participants to the November meeting, including the members of the
Middle East 'Quartet,' - the US, the European Union, the United
Nations and Russia - the G8, the members of an Arab League committee
charged with following up on a 2002 peace offer - including Syria and
Lebanon - as well as three additional predominantly Muslim countries
- Turkey, Indonesia and Malysia.
Even the author of the 2002 Arab League peace initiative, Saudi
Arabia, however, has yet to commit to attending.
Abbas also asked the US to invite India, South Africa, Brazil,
Greece and Spain, the Palestinian government spokesman said.
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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