Israel rejects Palestinian reconciliation, vetoes national unity government project

Bush foresees fierce fight in Iraq

Ban Ki-Moon: If peace in the region not achieved now, then when?

US suggest canceling the Security Council's monthly meeting on the situation in the Middle East

Hamas and Fatah meeting in Yemen ended five days of reconciliation talks, sponsored by the Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh, with the signing of the “Sana’a Declaration” to engage in a face-to-face dialogue on the implementation of the “Yemeni Initiative,” probably in the Yemeni capital on April 5, but both sides immediately disagreed over what they had actually signed.

The “Sanaa Declaration” was signed by Fatah parliamentary leader Azzam al-Ahmad and Hamas number two Moussa Abu Marzouk.

"The two movements Hamas and Fatah have agreed to accept the Yemeni initiative as a framework for dialogue between the two movements and a return of the Palestinian situation to what it was before the events in Gaza," said the text of the declaration read to journalists in the Yemeni capital.

The text, read to journalists by Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi, said the dialogue also aimed to "reconfirm the unity of the Palestinian homeland in terms of its land, people and the Palestinian Authority."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said soon afterwards that the Fatah side was only interested in the Yemeni initiative "for implementation," not as a basis for dialogue.

"Resuming dialogue in the future will be only to implement the Yemeni initiative in all its articles, and not to deal with it as a framework for dialogue," Abbas said, according to his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeneh.

"The re-launch of a dialogue in the future depends on the implementation of the Yemeni initiative on every point, and not on treating it as a framework for dialogue because that will not lead to any result," he said.

Abbas’ adviser, Nimr Hammad, told the Qatar-based Aljazeera satellite TV station that Azzam Al-Ahmad who signed the “Sana’a Declaration” for Fatah was “not authorized” to sign and should have reported back to President Abbas before signing.

Head of the Negotiations Department of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), Saeb Erekat, elaborated: Hamas must agree to end its control of the Strip before any dialogue could take place.

He said: "Article No 1 calls on Hamas to rescind its coup and accept its obligations to the Palestine Liberation Organization. If Hamas accepts this, then we can talk about a new page. If Hamas does not accept this, there won't be talks."

Hamas said almost immediately that the initiative by the Yemeni President was all about dialogue and could not be implemented immediately.

"Not a single article of the Yemeni initiative can be implemented without coming to an understanding — there should be a dialogue since practically speaking what you demand cannot be implemented," said the head of the Hamas delegation, Moussa Abu Marzouk, at a press conference in Sana’a in response to Abu Rdeneh's remarks. "If this condition remains, then they don't want Palestinian unity," he added.

However, speaking by telephone from Yemen, senior Hamas political bureau member Mohammad Nasr said the joint declaration is significant. He said the resumption of talks between Fatah and Hamas "means a sparkle of hope for the Palestinian nation to renounce division and move toward unity."

“Following the signing of the declaration of principles, there will be more meetings with both the Yemeni leadership and our brothers in Fatah to negotiate the clauses of the initiative,'' Ayman Taha, a Hamas spokesman in Gaza, told Bloomberg News by telephone from the Gaza Strip.

"Leaders of Hamas and Fatah agreed in Yemen to resume their dialogue on April 5 in the Palestinian territories. The dialogue will be based on the Yemeni initiative for reconciliation," said Taha.

President Ali Abdullah Saleh said he was ready to host the dialogue from early April but warned that negotiations to reach a detailed reconciliation accord would be "difficult."

"This is the first round of talks and we will help Fatah and Hamas to reach agreement in the interest of the Palestinian people," pledged Saleh.

"The agreement will begin to help build trust between Fatah and Hamas and the rest of the Palestinian factions," said Saleh, adding that the deal would be discussed at the upcoming Arab summit.

"What was signed here today will be included in the agenda of the Arab League meeting in Damascus. God willing, it will become an Arab initiative rather than a Yemeni one," said the president.

Following the signing of the “declaration,” the Yemeni president said, "We congratulate the Palestinian people on the signed deal that will completely settle differences and start strengthening confidence among each of Fatah, Hamas and other Palestinian factions.”

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa described the agreement as a positive step between the Palestinian factions, expressing his hope to start Palestinian dialogue immediately. He hailed President Saleh’s efforts, which resulted in the singing of this agreement, stressing that following up this matter includes major issues to be discussed in the upcoming Arab summit in the Syrian capital later this month.

Ghassan al-Khatib, a Palestinian commentator and a former cabinet minister of planning and labor, welcomed the Sana’a agreement but cautioned against pinning any great hopes on it. He said: "The only significance is that it indicates that the two sides are willing to talk, to engage. This is new. But the differences are huge. It will take high-level involvement of Arab states to move things forward.

"I [hope] the Americans and the Israelis will stop vetoing a serious dialogue and the possible resumption of joint government," said al-Khatib.

Fatah, which is led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, ruled out talks with Hamas unless the Islamist group first cedes control of the Gaza Strip according to the first article of the Yemeni Initiative, Abbas' adviser and Palestinian newly-appointed ambassador to Egypt, Nabil Amr, told reporters in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

"This is the final position of the Palestinian National Authority (PNA), of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and of Fatah," he confirmed.

"We are ready to open a new chapter but the Palestinian condition remains unchanged, and that is a complete and a total reversal of the (Hamas) coup," he added.

Azzam Al-Ahmad, a senior Fatah leader, who signed the Yemeni proposal, the “Sana’a declaration,” with Hamas this week, said his group had rejected efforts by Hamas to change the plan.

"We will sit down with Hamas after they end the coup and after they stop saying that there is a government headed by Haniyeh," he said, referring to Hamas's leader in Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh.

Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri said Amr's comments effectively "wiped out" the Yemeni initiative.

Fatah's official repudiation of the Yemeni-backed reconciliation agreement on Monday was a variation on the themes that have dominated Palestinian politics since Hamas' takeover of Gaza last June. The details were different but the underlying narrative remains the same: a pro-American Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority (PA) unwilling to engage seriously with Hamas.

Fatah immediately began to distance itself from the agreement, which called for the resumption of direct talks between the rival Palestinian movements. First, Nimir Hammad, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, accused Fatah's representative in the Yemen talks, Azzam Al-Ahmad, of failing to consult the Ramallah-based leaders of Fatah before signing the final version of the document. Fatah also accused Hamas of misconstruing the nature of the agreement.

In a second cycle of backpedaling, the PA's top negotiator in the present talks with Israel, former Prime Minister Ahmad Qureia, put even more distance between the PA and the agreement, reducing the signing of an otherwise historic accord to a miscommunication. According to Qureia, Al-Ahmad called from Sanaa while Abbas was meeting with US Vice President Dick Cheney in Ramallah.

Ramallah's rejection of its own representative's actions probably had to do with Dick Cheney, but not exactly the reasons that Qureia gave. Indeed, Abbas and the dominant powers within Fatah are not interested in serious dialogue with Hamas because they are, in a sense, giving the United States their undivided attention.

Abbas is showing no signs of deviating from the course he chose for the PA after the Hamas takeover of Gaza last June: seeking the political backing of the United States and the financial support of the international community. By installing American-educated International Monetary Fund economist Salam Fayyad in the prime minister's seat and accommodating the demands of the international Quartet, Abbas has succeeded in transforming Ramallah into the equivalent of any "moderate," meaning "US-friendly," Arab capital, a town where the American president, secretary of state, and vice president can feel as comfortable as they would in Cairo or Amman.

In order to maintain good relations with the Quartet, and with the United States that dominates it, Abbas cannot seriously consider forming another unity government with Hamas. Until the US is compelled to ease its hard line towards Hamas, Abbas feels that, in order to keep the spigot of international aid and political support turned on he must continue to shun Hamas.

Mahmoud Al Zahar one of Hamas coup leaders in Gaza Strip said that what had been signed in the Yemeni capital Sanaa between Fatah's representative Azzam Al Ahmed and Hamas representative Musa Abu Marzuk is not a protocol, but only titles (…) and not a base but only a framework under which many titles could be put.

Al Zahar added in an interview published by a Hamas affiliated daily newspaper "They (Fatah) came to sign on the Yemeni initiative the way it is, practically the initiative could take the form of a framework under which many titles could be put. It is an important practical step".

He said " The dialogue is due to start with Fatah in the beginning of April, and until then the two movements will give answers regarding many issues like Gaza crossings, the calm …etc,".

"These issues will be discussed under one framework, more over the Palestinian arena will witness an internal and external political movement over several issues", Zahar added.

Terrorism and rockets not only kill innocent civilians, "they also kill the legitimate hopes and aspirations of the Palestinian people," US Vice President Dick Cheney said in Ramallah, standing next to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Cheney's remarks, a clear reference to Hamas, came on the same day that Fatah and Hamas signed a declaration agreeing to resume talks.

Cheney, at a press conference with Abbas after their meeting, reassured the PA president that America would continue to support efforts to establish a Palestinian state. The US remained "strongly committed" to the creation of a Palestinian state, which was "long overdue," he said.

Achieving that, Cheney said, "requires tremendous efforts at the negotiating table and painful concessions on both sides. It will also require a determination to defeat those who are committed to violence and who refuse to accept the basic right of the other side to exist."

A senior PA official said Abbas demanded during the meeting that Washington pressure Israel to stop construction in settlements in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.

"Unless the Americans employ heavy pressure on the Israelis, there is no chance of fulfilling [US President George W.] Bush's vision of reaching a two-state solution by the end of the year," the official said. "But today we got the impression that the Bush administration has no intention to put enough pressure on Israel."

At the joint press conference, Abbas condemned the firing of rockets at Israel, saying he believed in real peace that would end the conflict.

"Peace would weaken the forces of terror and extremism," he said. "It would also create the proper atmosphere for cooperation, coexistence and democracy."

Calling on the US and the international community to support efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East, Abbas said he was continuing to work toward the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital that would exist alongside Israel in peace and security.

"What is required is will, courage and strong support from the international community to reach peace," he said.

Peace and stability would not be achieved through the expansion of Jewish settlements and IDF checkpoints, Abbas said. He also criticized Israel's most recent military operations in the Gaza Strip, continuing detention of Palestinians, and IDF incursions into Palestinian areas in general.

Cheney later flew to Arbil, capital of Iraq's largely autonomous Kurdistan region, for talks with Kurdish leader Massoud Barazani, whose fellow Kurds are holding up passage of a law on sharing Iraq's vast oil reserves.

Washington sees the oil law as crucial to fostering national reconciliation, but the law is stalled amid arguments over whether the central government or regional authorities should control production and exploration of oil fields.

"We are certainly counting on President Barazani's leadership to help us conclude a new strategic relationship between the United States and Iraq, as well as to pass crucial pieces of national legislation in the months ahead," Cheney said.

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney, an architect of the U.S-led invasion of Iraq, made an unannounced visit to Baghdad, just days before the fifth anniversary of the war.

Cheney, who last visited Baghdad in May, made Iraq the first stop of his nine-day Middle East tour that will also take him to Saudi Arabia, Jerusalem, the Palestinian territories, Turkey and Oman.

He arrived amid an upsurge in violence since January, including a number of suicide bombings that the U.S. military has blamed on al Qaeda.

But military commanders say this does not represent a trend and that attacks are actually down 60 percent from the middle of last year.

Cheney, a strong supporter of sending an additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Iraq last year, has warned critics that a premature U.S. withdrawal would spark chaos and further bloodshed.

In Turkey, Cheney met with President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other senior officials on the last leg of a regional tour that had taken him to Iraq, Afghanistan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey's state-run media said that Cheney held talks with Erdogan on terrorism and Iran's nuclear program.

Cheney also expressed concern about Iran's "nuclear arms program" during his meeting with Erdogan in Ankara, state-run Anatolia news agency said.

Erdogan said Iran should work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to ease the fears of the international community, Anatolia reported.

Iran insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, and its enrichment work is aimed only at producing nuclear-generated electricity, not at making warheads.

Cheney and Erdogan also discussed Washington's cooperation in Turkey's fight against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq.

The US shares real-time intelligence with Turkey, its NATO ally, in its fight against the Kurdish rebels, who use bases in northern Iraq to launch attacks against Turkey. Turkey and the US label the Kurdish rebel group, known as the PKK, a terrorist organization.

Cheney met also with Gul and the country's military chief, General Yasar Buyukanit. The meetings were closed to the media and no announcements were made afterward.

In Ankara, about 50 protesters chanted anti-US slogans near the presidential palace during Cheney's meeting with Gul.

"Down with America," the group shouted. One banner read: "Murderer Cheney."

U.S. President George W. Bush defended the Iraq war as a "right decision" despite a high cost as thousands of Americans staged anti-war demonstrations across the nation to mark the war's fifth anniversary.

"Removing Saddam Hussein from power was the right decision, and this is a fight America can and must win," Bush said during a speech at the Pentagon.

U.S. President George W. Bush defended the Iraq war as a "right decision" at the pentagon despite a high cost as thousands of Americans staged anti-war demonstrations across the nation to mark the war's fifth anniversary.

With six sentences began with "because we acted," Bush bragged about how the war "benefited" Iraqi people by ending Saddam's regime.

He also cited declining "Iraqi civilian death, sectarian killings and attacks on the U.S. troops," capture or killing of thousands of extremists and expansion of Iraqi security forces as the military progress achieved by the Operation Freedom in Iraq.

"To ensure that military progress in Iraq is quickly followed up with real improvements in daily life, we have doubled the number of provincial reconstruction teams in Iraq," he added.

However, Bush admitted that the Iraq war launched on March 20, 2003 became "longer, harder and more costly than we anticipated."

"There's still hard work to be done in Iraq," he said. "The gains we've made are fragile and reversible."

He reiterated his opposition to fast withdrawal of the current 155,000 U.S. troops from Iraq.

"We have learned through hard experience what happens when we pull our forces back too fast. The terrorists and extremists step in, they fill vacuums, establish safe havens and use them to spread chaos and carnage."

He said that he would wait for recommendation from top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker, who will come to Washington to testify before Congress next month, before making any decision on the troop levels in Iraq.

The speech did mention the ballooning war budgets nibbling the U.S. economy, the U.S. private security guards' violence resulting in Iraqi civilian death, the controversial interrogation tactics raising human rights abuse charges and the conclusion in a newly-released defense intelligence report indicating no relationship between Saddam's regime and al Qaeda.

US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told the 15-member Security Council during the monthly meetings of the UN Security Council on the Middle East "The polarization and divisions of the United Nations membership over the conflict all too often manifest themselves as heated political statements," he argued.

These "do little to help advance the cause of peace or help the Palestinian people in any tangible way," he added.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations Dan Gillerman criticized the "trend" to equate the "lawful actions" of a state in defense of its citizens with the "violence of terrorists" during a bitter exchange in the Security Council's monthly meeting on the situation in the Middle East.

"The misguided tendency to accept the 'status quo' of terrorism is simply unacceptable," said Gillerman. "Such parity, which is often in the name of an ill-conceived balance, undermines the strength and credibility of moderate states to bolster one another and isolate the extremists."

The Palestinian UN observer Riad Mansour, attacked Israel for its "violent occupation," the continuation of "illegal settlement building" and human rights violations. Mansour said Israel continues to ignore international law and acts without "law, morality and humanity."

Gillerman called on other nations to demonstrate collective support for the negotiations toward a lasting peace for the region. "This is the mandate of the international community. This is its calling. This is its duty," he said. "This collective resolve must be shown first and foremost by this council."

The Israeli ambassador warned the international body that the current "lull" in Hamas rocket fire is merely superficial. "The bombs keep ticking, albeit quietly," warned Gillerman, who said Hamas is using this lull to smuggle in and produce more rockets. br />
Gillerman also spoke of the situation along the northern border. He drew attention to the ongoing flow of weapons through the Syrian-Lebanese border and the rearming of Hezbollah which he said "poses an extremist threat to the region."

"The relationship between Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah are continually reinforced for us," said Gillerman. "Clearly, Syria and Iran both play host to and support global and local terrorist organizations. The international community must press to end that support."

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon opened the meeting, urging Israelis, Palestinians and the international community to increase efforts to reach a peace settlement this year.

"It is my hope that we can achieve this ambitious goal," Ban said. "I believe all of us must ask ourselves, and the parties, two simple questions: If not this, what? If not now, when?"

"This (peace) process is too important to be allowed to lose momentum through inaction or indifference, or to be overwhelmed by violence," Ban said. "It is essential that it receives the support of the international community, including this council."