Mubarak tells Peres Arab peace initiative "open for implementation, not negotiation"

Israel mulls non-belligerence pact with Lebanon

Egypt to host Palestinian unity talks Nov 9

Al-Azhar Imam calls on international community to protect Aqsa Mosque

Israeli President Shimon Peres said that the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative is an "opportunity" to bring peace to a volatile Middle East region.

Peres made the remarks at a joint press conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak following their bilateral session of talks in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"Israel accepts the (spirit of) the Arab Peace Initiative that aims to bring about peace to the entire region through peaceful coexistence," the Egyptian MENA news agency quoted Peres as saying.

"Peace has never been as attainable in the past years as it is now," he said, adding that it would be a mistake to miss the opportunity.

"In tandem with the bilateral negotiations with the Palestinians, we need to promote the Arab peace initiative," Peres told reporters after his meeting with Mubarak at the Red Sea resort of Sharm El Sheik.

Peres said the Saudi plan "needs to be negotiated" further, but that it was "correct," in spirit.

Egypt is a regional heavyweight and was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israeli in 1979, but Mubarak said discussions of wider peace agreement were off the table because the Saudi initiative is not "open for negotiations."

His spokesman, Suleiman Awwad, later said Mubarak dismisses the idea of all Arab countries holding talks together with Israel before the Palestinian issue is resolved.

Peres and Mubarak said they also discussed the fate of Gilad Shalit, a kidnapped Israeli soldier, held in the Gaza Strip.

"Egypt will continue its persistent efforts to mediate and ensure success of a Shalit release deal and the Palestinian prisoners deal," Mubarak said.

The 2002 Saudi initiative, which has been re-endorsed by Arab League, calls for Israel's pullout from all Arab territories it captured in the 1967 Middle East War and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in return for the normalization of Arab-Israeli ties.

Israel initially rejected the set of guidelines, yet since early last year Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and other officials have repeatedly referred to the plan, although with some reservations, saying that it contains interesting elements and could serve as the basis for negotiation with Arab states.

Egypt delivered to Palestinian officials the invitations to a summit meeting of all the Palestinian factions, along with a draft plan for ending the political crisis which began with fighting between Hamas and Fatah, high-ranking sources said.

The “comprehensive national dialogue” meeting is set for 9 November in Cairo.

The high-ranking officials, who spoke anonymously, said that the Egyptian draft calls for the creation of a new Palestinian unity government.

Specifically, plan includes four main points:

1. The new government’s tasks are to end the blockade (of the Gaza Strip), ease daily life, prepare for presidential and legislative elections, and reform the security Palestinian in order to “defend land and civilians.”

2. Simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections.

3. Reform the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) in accordance with the 2005 Cairo agreement.

4. The PLO would be empowered to “conduct negotiations in adherence with national goals,” a reference to the Palestinian-Israeli final status negotiations.

The draft agreement opens with an introduction that discusses the” necessity” of ending the Palestinian internal rift. It mentions the principles of “national reconciliation” and unity of the occupied territories “nationally, geographically and politically,”

The draft also mentions “democracy” as a means of rotating authority among leaders.

The document makes reference to the “sanctity of Palestinian blood and the resistance.”

It also includes references to the Cairo agreement, the Reconciliation Document, the Mecca agreement of 2007, President Mahmoud Abbas’ initiative for unity, and the Arab league resolution calling for unity.

The Hamas movement agrees with the fundamentals of an Egyptian draft plan to restore Palestinian political unity, but has reservations about some of the specifics of the newly-announced plan, well-informed sources told Ma’an.

The main point of contention is the timing of presidential elections. The Egyptian proposal calls for presidential elections to be held simultaneously with parliamentary elections, while Hamas wants new elections at the end of President Mahmoud Abbas’ term in January 2009.

Hamas reportedly objects to this point on the grounds that the document does not include a specific date for elections, which could allow Fatah to hold on to presidential power. The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2010.

The Egyptian document was released to the public and calls for reform of the Palestine Liberation Organization, a restructuring of the security forces, and a transitional government charged with preparing for elections.

Egypt is hosting a summit meeting of Palestinian factions in Cairo starting on 9 November in hopes of ending the Palestinian internal political crisis. The West Bank and Gaza Strip have been ruled by rival Palestinian governments since fighting between Hamas and Fatah in June 2007.

Ma’an's sources believe that Hamas will approve an extension of Abbas’ term if a firm date for elections is set, and a national consensus government is formed.

Hamas also reportedly has concerns about clauses of the document that call for proportional representation and "review of the electoral law and as required by the interests of the country." Hamas also believes that security forces in both the West Bank and Gaza must be reformed.

While Hamas is unlikely to reject a plan that would end its isolation in the Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip, it will object to any plan that calls for the adoption of the demands of the international Quartet (the US, EU, Russia, and the UN) which has in the past called for Hamas to recognize Israel and renounce violence.

In addition Hamas will likely approve an extension of its truce with Israel in order to allow room for the Palestinian reconciliation to succeed.

The Director General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, has welcomed warmly the adoption by consensus of two decisions concerning respectively the Old City of Jerusalem and the Mughbrabi ascent in the Old City of Jerusalem by the Executive Board during its 180th session.

“I am very happy to see that UNESCO is still providing a forum for consensus, discussion and dialogue for this difficult subject,” declared Matsuura. “I am also deeply satisfied to see that all the concerned parties are able to get together and reach an understanding in the interest of safeguarding the cultural heritage of the Old City of Jerusalem, inscribed on the World Heritage List in 1981 and on the World Heritage in Danger List in 1982.”

“We must continue showing our shared will to preserve heritage recognized by the international community as being of ‘outstanding universal value’. This is what is at stake in UNESCO’s Action Plan for the Safeguarding of the Old City of Jerusalem, like the technical meetings organized by UNESCO between the concerned parties to facilitate dialogue on the town planning scheme for the Mughrabi ascent, mindful of the principles of the 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage,” he said.

“It is only on the basis of shared values and a common vision of our obligations to generations yet unborn, that we can enable this dialogue to bear fruit. It is my most fervent desire that this spirit of consensus may also mark the debates of the 33rd session of the World Heritage Committee in Seville from 22 to 30 June, 2009,” concluded the Director-General of UNESCO.

The Executive Board may wish to adopt the following draft decision:

The Executive Board,

1. Having examined document 180 EX/5 Add.3 Rev.,

2. Recalling 176 EX/Special Plenary Meeting/Decision, 177 EX/Decision 20, 179 EX/Decisions 9 and 52,

3. Further recalling Decisions 31 COM 7A.18 and 32 COM 7A.18 adopted by the World Heritage Committee at its 31st (Christchurch, 2007) and 32nd (Quebec City, 2008) sessions respectively,

4. Also recalling the relevant provisions on the protection of cultural heritage including, as appropriate, the four Geneva Conventions (1949), the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954, the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972, the inscription of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls at the request of Jordan on the World Heritage List (1981) and on the List of World Heritage in Danger (1982), and the recommendations, resolutions and decisions of UNESCO,

5. Reaffirming the purpose and spirit of the professional encounter at the technical level of 13 January 2008, as well as the follow-up meeting of 24 February 2008,

6. Being aware that the process for the design of the Mughrabi ascent, which allows for the taking into consideration of the proposals submitted during the professional encounter, is still under way, and that the World Heritage Centre is following closely the developments associated with this process through its Reinforced Monitoring Mechanism,

7. Being aware of the deep concerns regarding the decision taken by the Jerusalem District Planning and Construction Commission on the town planning scheme for the Mughrabi ascent,

8. Requests that, despite this decision, the process for the design of the Mughrabi ascent be inclusive of all concerned parties, in accordance with the spirit and content of previous World Heritage Committee decisions;

9. Reaffirms that no measures, unilateral or otherwise, should be taken which will affect the authenticity and integrity of the site, in accordance with the Convention for the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage of 1972;

10. Reiterates the request made by the World Heritage Committee at its 32nd session in Decision 32 COM 7A.18 that the Israeli authorities continue the cooperation engaged with all concerned parties, in particular with Jordanian and Waqf experts;

11. Reiterates the request made by the World Heritage Committee at its 32nd session in Decision 32 COM 7A.18 that the World Heritage Centre organize a technical follow-up meeting at the site with all concerned parties for additional exchanges of information to enable all necessary inputs to be considered;

12. Notes with satisfaction that the follow-up meeting requested by the World Heritage Committee at its 32nd session in Decision 32 COM 7A.18 is tentatively scheduled for early November 2008;

The Egyptian proposal designed to help end the inter-Palestinian rift has a solid basis for reconciliation among Palestinian factions, Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hossam Zaki said.

"The paper includes all points, on which the Palestinian factions were unanimous," the Egyptian MENA news agency quoted Zaki as saying.

Zaki said the Egyptian document tackles the formation of a Palestinian unity government, preparation for holding Palestinian presidential and legislative elections and reformation of the Palestinian security agencies.

According to the spokesman, the comprehensive Palestinian reconciliation dialogue is expected to kick off in Cairo on Nov. 9.

The Egyptian plan is designated to end political separation between the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the West Bank where the Fatah-dominated Palestinian National Authority (PNA) rules.

The split widened last year after Hamas drove out pro-Abbas forces, ousted Fatah and tightened its grip on Gaza.

Since late August, Egypt has been carrying out a series of separate bilateral talks with representatives of some 13 Palestinian factions, including rival Fatah and Hamas.

Palestinians hope Israeli calls for the revival of a Saudi peace initiative could lead to progress on a diplomatic track that has been dormant for years, their chief negotiator with Israel said.

Israeli President Shimon Peres last month called on Saudi King Abdullah to “further” a land-for-peace proposal endorsed six years ago by the Arab League, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak said last week Israelis were reconsidering the plan.

“For the past week Israel has started speaking in a new and positive way about this initiative. We note this change of language and we place a lot of hope in it,” Palestinian chief negotiator with Israel Ahmed Qurei told reporters in Paris.

The Saudi plan calls for full Arab recognition of Israel if it gives up “all of the territories” occupied in the 1967 Six-Day War and accepts “a just solution” for Palestinian refugees. Egypt and Jordan are the only Arab countries to have signed full peace accords with Israel.

“Peres has said that it’s a good and positive initiative and it is a base for a global negotiation between Israel and Arab countries. Barak has spoken in similar terms. I think Barak and Tzipi Livni are in agreement about that,” Qurei said.

Livni, Israel’s foreign minister, has been Qurei’s counterpart in the most recent round of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

Qurei said Livni, who is busy trying to put together a new coalition government for Israel, had said nothing to him about the Saudi initiative and he did not elaborate on why he thought she shared Barak’s views on the issue.

Egypt has invited the Islamist Hamas and the secular Fatah party of Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to meet in Cairo on November 9 for talks aimed at restoring Palestinian unity, Hamas said.

"We received a draft of the Egyptian vision for Palestinian reconciliation which includes a call for a full Palestinian dialogue on November 9," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum told AFP.

"Hamas has no problem in attending (such a meeting) and we were the first to call for Palestinian-Palestinian talks to end the internal conflict."

Abbas told a group of writers and columnists that all the Palestinian factions had been invited to meet in Cairo on November 9 but did not say whether Fatah would attend the talks, Palestinian media reported.

The two main Palestinian movements have been bitterly divided since Hamas seized power in the Gaza Strip in June 2007 after driving Abbas's security forces out of the territory in a week of bloody street battles.

The conflict has grown worse in recent weeks as the two factions have differed over when Abbas's presidential term ends.

Hamas has said that Abbas -- who was elected in January 2005 -- will cease to be president when his constitutionally mandated four-year term ends in January and that new presidential elections will have to be held.

Abbas loyalists, citing a separate clause in the constitution, say that presidential and parliamentary elections must be held at the same time, which would extend his term to 2010.

Abbas has called for the establishment of a politically independent national unity government to pave the way for elections to be held at an agreed upon time, a position reflected in a copy of the Egyptian plan obtained by AFP.

The plan calls for "the establishment of a national consensus government" that would lift the international blockade of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip and prepare for presidential and parliamentary elections.

The plan also calls for the rehabilitation of independent Palestinian security forces with assistance from Arab states and the incorporation of Hamas and the hard-line Islamic Jihad into the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) headed by Abbas, which is responsible for negotiations with Israel.

Meanwhile, Israel is considering negotiating a long-term non-belligerence treaty with neighboring Lebanon, an Israeli official said. "This option was presented and discussed two weeks ago," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He added that the issue was raised as part of foreign ministry discussions over the strategic challenges of the Middle East peace process.

Eran Etzion, who heads the ministry's political department, stressed at the talks that a full peace agreement with Lebanon only could be signed after a peace deal is reached with Syria.

Israel and Syria launched indirect negotiations, brokered by Turkey, in May, eight years after they were broken off over the fate of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

The talks with Syria have made it possible to work toward a separate non-belligerence pact with Lebanon, the Israeli official said, adding: "That is one option, there are others."

A deal with Lebanon would settle disputes over the seting of the common border and include a solution to the Shebaa Farms issue, he said.

Israel captured the Shebaa Farms from Syria in 1967, and Beirut now claims the small sliver of land at the junction of the three countries with the backing of Damascus. Israel insists the area is Syrian.

The pact would also include agreement on coordination between the Israeli and Lebanese armed forces and the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL.)

Grand Imam of Al-Azhar and Head of the World Islamic Council Mohamed Sayed Tantawi called on the international community to intervene and protect religious sanctities.

Any attack against Al-Aqsa Mosque would lead to serious security deterioration in the region, he warned.

In press statements, Tantawi called on the UN and all peace-loving nations to shoulder responsibility towards protecting Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Palestine, currently under threat from Jewish extremists.