Al-Quds forum in Rabat urges int’l community to end Israel’s practices in Jerusalem

Moroccan king says backs Abbas, warns Israel of igniting sentiments of extremism, animosity

Saudi Crown Prince Sultan receives Abu Mazen in Agadir, reviews recent developments

Abbas: Situation in Jerusalem is very serious

Saudi Arabia transfers $200 million to cash-strapped PNA

Int’l community does not recognize Israel’s annexation of East Jerusalem, says UN chief

Participants at a forum of the Islamic Conference's al-Quds (Jerusalem) Committee have described Jerusalem as the key to solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Moroccan media reported Thursday. The committee is staging an international forum in Rabat, the capital of Morocco, whose King Mohammed VI chairs the committee. The two-day forum ended on Thursday.

The common cultural heritage represented by Jerusalem should become a "platform" for re-launching peace talks, the Moroccan national news agency MAP quoted Andre Azoulay as saying.

Azoulay is advisor to Mohammed VI and president of the Anna Lindh Euro-Mediterranean foundation for cultural dialogue.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Joudeh described Jerusalem as the "basis of the Palestinian cause," while Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said there was no possibility of peace without East Jerusalem becoming the capital of a Palestinian state.

Arab countries are, however, somewhat unclear on whether all or only a part of Jerusalem would become a Palestinian capital, observers said.

Azoulay said Jerusalem could not be anyone's exclusive property and needed to become an "open space to all with two capitals for two states."

The forum accused Israel of aggressive policies threatening the Islamic character of East Jerusalem, which the al-Quds Committee seeks to protect.

Israeli extremists violated even religious sites under Israeli "official cover," Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas alleged before leaving Morocco on Thursday.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned on Wednesday that Jerusalem must be the capital of two States -- Israel and Palestine -- living side-by-side in peace and security, with arrangements for the holy sites acceptable to all, if peace in the Middle East is to be achieved.

"This is the road to the fulfillment of both the vision of (the United Nations) Security Council resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, and the yearning for peace of people from all over the world," he said in a message to the Jerusalem International Forum in Rabat, Morocco, in which he stressed that the international community does not recognize Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem.

The secretary-general cited as obstacles to peace continued Israeli evictions and house demolitions in East Jerusalem, the latest occurring on Tuesday, closure of Palestinian institutions there, and the expansion of settlements contrary to international law and the Roadmap peace plan espoused by the Quartet -- the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States --that seeks a two-State solution to the conflict.

"These actions exacerbate tensions, prejudge final status issues, and often have tragic human consequences," he added in the message, delivered by Robert H. Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process and Ban's personal representative to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority, UN officials said.

"I reiterate the repeated calls of the Quartet and the wider international community for Israel to freeze settlement activity, cease provocative and unilateral actions, and reopen Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem," Ban said.

Ban voiced concern at recent episodes of tension at the Haram Ash-Sharif/Temple Mount compound in East Jerusalem, sacred to both Muslims and Jews, and the potential for further clashes, also citing the "sensitive excavations" by Israel in reconstructing a ramp to the site.

"We all share a responsibility to promote calm," he said. "Today, access into East Jerusalem remains severely restricted by checkpoints, permits and the (Israeli) barrier, whose route is contrary to the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice."

"These measures separate families, limit Palestinian economic development and make it difficult for residents of the West Bank to access specialized medical facilities," he added, urging Israel to respect the "organic relationship" between East Jerusalem and the remainder of the West Bank.

"Only with the achievement of a two-State solution, and a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, will Jerusalem be fully restored to its rightful place as a symbol of sanctity, brotherhood and peace for the entire world," he said.

At his monthly news conference at the UN Headquarters in New York, Ban reiterated his warning that disturbances at the Haram Al-Sharif/Temple Mount compound and other events in Jerusalem can undermine trust throughout the region.

"I call upon all to avoid provocative acts," he said.

He also called on Israel to re-open its borders with Gaza to allow in reconstruction material 10 months after the end of its three-week assault on Hamas there, noting that a donors' conference in Egypt raised 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in financial aid for the purpose.

"Little if any of that money has been delivered," he said. "Families have not been able to rebuild their homes. Clinics and schools are still in ruins. I urge Israel to accept the UN reconstruction proposals as set forth, recognizing that the only true guarantee of peace is people's well-being and security."

He called on both Israel and the Palestinians to carry out "full, independent and credible investigations" in accordance with the recommendations of a UN commission led by Justice Richard Goldstone, a former prosecutor at the UN war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, which found evidence that both sides committed serious war crimes in the Gaza war.

He said he was aware both were now going to have their own investigations. "I have not received any further details, but that is positive, I would say," he said. "I have been repeatedly urging the Israeli Government to institute a credible domestic investigation process."

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is deeply suspicious of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is losing faith in his intentions to reach a peace agreement, Israeli officials have told Haaretz.

"I know Netanyahu is pragmatic and everyone tells me he has changed," Abbas reportedly told the officials recently. "But I don't see it. I fear it's the same Netanyahu of 1996. How much longer can I still give him credit?"

Abbas reportedly said he missed former prime minister Ehud Olmert, with whom he had "almost closed [a deal]."

The prime minister is due to meet U.S. special envoy George Mitchell on Friday, ahead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's arrival.

Netanyahu is expected to tell Mitchell that if negotiations with the Palestinians are not resumed, he would be willing to consider talks on an interim agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Abbas says that very little time remains to get the peace process back on track, according to the Israeli officials.

They say Abbas told them he hoped that Clinton's visit to the region and her talks in Israel would achieve a breakthrough.

"I'm willing to give Netanyahu one more chance. But we have no more than two to three weeks during which something must happen," an Israeli official quoted Abbas as saying.

An Israeli source said Abbas was extremely frustrated by Netanyahu and the changes in Israel's policy, and especially by the "extreme rhetoric."

Contrary to his past public statements about the large gaps between his positions and Olmert's, Abbas is now admitting that he almost had a deal with the previous prime minister.

"Olmert and I almost closed on everything. We almost reached an oral agreement on all issues," an Israeli official quoted him as saying.

Asked why he didn't accept Olmert's proposal, Abbas said that "there were problems," hinting at the corruption investigations that forced Olmert to resign, a source said.

Abbas and his associates Saeb Erekat and Yasser Abdrabbo apparently believe that everything that happens in Jerusalem takes place with Netanyahu's approval and under his instructions. They told the Israeli officials they were convinced that Netanyahu had sent far-right activists to the Temple Mount and was trying to change the city's status quo.

Abbas told the Israelis that he was deeply concerned that Friday's calm and stability would deteriorate into violence. Erekat, head of the Palestinian negotiating team, spoke of a danger of a third intifada.

Mitchell's aides are playing down any expectations about Clinton's visit. "There's no breakthrough and the differences between the parties remain," an American official said.

He added that the political background, including the possibility of PA elections in the next few months, is making progress with the Palestinians even more difficult.

Netanyahu is expected to ask Mitchell and Clinton to pressure Abbas to agree to resume peace talks. Netanyahu is expected to say he will make gestures toward the PA if talks are resumed.

He would also say that if the standstill continues he would consider other options such as interim agreements.

On the other hand, Crown Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Deputy Premier, Minister of Defense and Aviation and Inspector General, received in Agadir, Morocco, on Wednesday Abbas, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and President of the Palestinian National Authority.

During the audience, the crown prince held a luncheon for the Palestinian president.

The event was attended by a number of princes and senior officials.

Meanwhile, the cash-strapped Palestinian Authority has received 255 million dollars in aid from Saudi Arabia and the European Union, prime minister Salam Fayyad said.

Oil-rich Saudi Arabia has ordered the transfer of 200 million dollars the Palestinian Authority, Fayyad told reporters at a ceremony during which the EU signed over to the Palestinians 39 million euros (55 million dollars).

Fayyad said the Saudi aid was part of a one-billion-dollar financial assistance package pledged in January by Saudi King Abdullah to help the Palestinians deal with a steep financial crisis.

"I received a call from the Saudi finance minister, Ibrahim al-Assaf, who informed me of King Abdullah's decision to order the transfer of 200 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority's treasury," Fayyad said.

The Palestinian Authority received pledges totalling some 12 billion dollars from international conferences in Paris in 2007 and Sharm el-Sheikh in March this year.

But Fayyad has repeatedly complained that international donors have been slow to hand over the promised cash due to the political deadlock in the Middle East.

During a visit to Norway in June he said that the PA needs 50 million dollars in international aid per month.

And in May the Western-backed Palestinian Authority was forced to take out bank loans worth 530 million dollars to cover its operations.

The latest EU aid brings to 207 million euros (around 293 million dollars) the total assistance received by the Palestinians from Europe since the beginning of the year.

According to Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority has received a total of 703 million dollars since the beginning of 2009 in international aid, excluding the 200 million dollars announced by Saudi Arabia.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on July 24 that the United States had given 200 million dollars to the Palestinian Authority -- part of a 900-million-dollar aid package announced in March.