International leaders prepare for Middle East peace conference

Arab leaders and international envoys are preparing for a conference on peace in the Middle East today.

US President George Bush will open the conference after holding a trilateral meeting with both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. Former UK prime minister Tony Blair will also be present at the talks.

Mr Bush said he was “optimistic” and wanted to “turn dreams of peace into reality” ahead of the conference in Annapolis, Maryland.

Yesterday, the US president held talks with Mr Olmert and Mr Abbas separately in the Oval Office at the White House.

Mr Olmert said: “This time it’s different, because we are going to have lots of participants in what I hope will launch a serious process of negotiations between us and the Palestinians.

“This will be a bilateral process, but the international support is very important for us.”

Mr Abbas called the conference “a great initiative”.

“I am delighted to have the opportunity to meet with President Bush after his invitation and this historic initiative that he launched to convene the Annapolis Conference,” Mr Abbas said.

“We have a great deal of hope that this conference will produce a permanent status negotiations, expanded negotiations, overall permanent status issues that would lead to a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinian people, an agreement to secure security and stability.”

The conference, which started with a dinner last night, is the first time that Israel, a large group of Arab states, and international envoys from around the world sit down together to try to relaunch a peace process.

Mr Blair will be there in his role as Middle East envoy for the quartet, which represents Europe, Russia, the US and the UN.

He is expected to report on the actions he has taken to support efforts to build Palestinian institutions by Salam Fayyad, prime minister of the Palestinian National Authority.

The run-up to the meeting has been fraught with disputes, scepticism and suspicion about the opposing parties’ good faith and expectations remain low.

Any joint agreement the Israelis and Palestinians present at Annapolis will be a starting point and the big questions that have doomed previous peace efforts would come later.

Criticism directed at the conference from afar pointed to the enormity of the challenge.

Leaders of the Islamic militant group Hamas labelled Abbas a traitor even for coming to the meeting, and vowed to reject any decisions to come out of the conference.

In Jerusalem, more than 20,000 Israelis gathered at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, to protest against the conference.

Israeli opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu labelled the summit “a continuation of one-sided concessions”.

In Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech that the conference “has already failed” and that the US was only trying to preserve its reputation.

The events unfolded as the Israeli military killed four Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in an airstrike and a ground clash.

US officials have tried to keep expectations for the US-sponsored conference low, an easy task among sceptical Arab states, calling it a starting point for talks and not an attempt to settle anything.

At the dinner, Mr Bush said: “Achieving this goal requires difficult compromises – and the Israelis and Palestinians have elected leaders committed to making them.

“Achieving this goal requires neighbours committed to peace between Israel and a new Palestinian state – and I’m encouraged by the presence of so many here.

“Achieving this goal requires the commitment of the international community, including the United States.”

He went on: “The extremists and terrorists want our efforts to fail. They’re working actively to undermine every effort as we try to achieve peace and reconciliation.

“We offer a more hopeful vision – of a Middle East growing in freedom and dignity and prosperity. We are here to renew our efforts to achieve this vision.

“I offer a toast to all of our honoured guests, and to the future of peace that we can build together.”

A statement released by the Quartet of Europe, Russia, the UN and the US - represented by Mr Blair – also welcomed the commitment of the Israeli and Palestinians leaders to launch bilateral negotiations and the realisation of Israeli-Palestinian peace.

“The Quartet welcomed the parties’ continuing efforts to fulfil their respective commitments under Phase One of the Roadmap and urged the international community to provide robust support for all the parties’ efforts,” it said.

“The Quartet affirmed its commitment to seize this opportunity to mobilise international support to achieve meaningful progress towards a just and lasting negotiated settlement to this conflict, and ultimately a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.”