Israeli PM hints at peace deal with Palestine

Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert reached out to reluctant Arab nations today for their support at a forthcoming US-brokered Middle East peace conference, saying a peace deal with the Palestinians could be reached next year.

Mr Olmert said negotiations launched at next week’s gathering would address all issues of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and take into account a Saudi-sponsored Arab peace initiative – two key concerns of Arab states.

Arab countries have been reluctant to commit to attending the conference in Annapolis, Maryland, US, unless it tackles the tough issues that have blocked the establishment of a Palestinian state in past talks.

Mr Olmert’s comments in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt, were aimed at assuring Arab nations that even if the conference does not do so, the ensuing negotiations will.

In the past he has said only that he hoped to make serious strides toward a peace deal before US president George Bush leaves office in January 2009.

He went further today, saying: “I very much hope we can reach this agreement in the course of 2008.”

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak said the conference would be a “beginning for serious negotiations ... I hope that it (the gathering) will succeed, so negotiations can continue and we can reach an agreement in a year.

“I am looking forward to constructive positions from Prime Minister Olmert to establish the foundations (of peace) and ensure the success of the conference.”

Egypt suggested yesterday that it would send its foreign minister to the talks and Mr Mubarak said he believed that Syria – which has not committed to attend - would send its foreign minister as well.

Another key Arab country, US ally Saudi Arabia, has also not indicated if it will attend, or at what level.

Mr Olmert, appearing with Mr Mubarak, reached out to Arab countries, saying a peace initiative originally proposed by Saudi Arabia but now endorsed by the Arab League is held “in great esteem” by Israel, and would in 2008 “surely make a significant contribution toward a solution between us and the Palestinian people”.

Mr Olmert said: “I want the Arab nations to know that the negotiations will tackle all the main issues.

“We won’t try to avoid any problem or overlook any issue.”

Mr Olmert’s meeting with Mr Mubarak came after the Israeli leader had failed to bridge gaps in a meeting with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.

Israel and the Palestinians have been unable to meet their goal of reaching a joint blueprint for peace talks for presentation at the conference. The deadlock is likely to influence the Arab League when its members meet on Friday to decide whether and at what level to attend.

The conference is designed as a launching pad for formal negotiations, which broke down in violence seven years ago. Ahead of the meeting, its US hosts have been pressuring both sides to fulfill initial obligations under the recently-revived peace plan known as the road map.

In its first phase, the road map calls on Israel to freeze all construction in West Bank settlements, and requires the Palestinians to crack down on armed groups.

But yesterday, Israel stopped short of declaring a total halt to settlement activity, and Mr Olmert did not address the issue in the news conference with Mr Mubarak.

Palestinian efforts to rein in gunmen were dealt a setback when gunmen affiliated with Mr Abbas’s Fatah movement killed an Israeli settler.

The shooting late yesterday occurred in an area seen as a test case for the Palestinians’ ability to impose law and order in the West Bank.

The same group also claimed responsibility for a failed infiltration attempt into southern Israel from Gaza in which two militants were killed by Israeli troops. Gaza is controlled by the Hamas militant group, and Mr Abbas wields little control in the area, even over militants who support him.

Riad Malki, the Palestinian minister of information and foreign affairs, said Mr Abbas’s West Bank-based government viewed the settler killing as an “isolated attack” that did not reflect on the Palestinian security plan and should not compromise peace efforts.

In an attempt to soften the atmosphere, Israel’s Cabinet agreed yesterday to free 441 of more than 9,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The gesture fell short of Palestinian demands for the release of 2,000 inmates, including those who have served long sentences.