http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2009/955/fr1.htm
9 - 15 July 2009 Issue No. 955 Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 Lobbying support for peace What message should world leaders offer to a fractious, conflicted Middle East, asks Dina Ezzat -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fresh from talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Cairo Tuesday, President Hosni Mubarak was expected to arrive in Italy Wednesday to join a G8+G5 meeting. President Mubarak will join the gathering, which brings together the leaders of the G8 with Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa in the city of L'Aquila, on its second day. Mubarak is expected to brief his counterparts on recent developments in the Middle East, especially in relation to the prospects of resuming Palestinian- Israeli talks. Mubarak is expected to press leaders to help rescue the peace process that suffered during recent years in part due to the absence of effective international support and intervention. "The peace process cannot afford another setback... and we should not lose the chance [to pick up the pieces]," Mubarak said Tuesday following talks with Peres. No date, even tentative, is yet announced for the resumption of peace talks. However, in a joint press conference with Peres at the presidential headquarters in Cairo, Mubarak expressed confidence that "both sides want peace" and should work for it. Mubarak said that the leaders of Israel would need to demonstrate requisite courage to take tough decisions and make the necessary concessions for peace to be achieved. Despite all challenges, Mubarak stressed that the Israelis and Palestinians should go to the negotiating table "because it is at the negotiating table that the real positions are stated and where problems are solved, away from public statements that are often made to serve tactical purposes." The top priority for international intervention, according to some Egyptian diplomats, is to get Israeli officials to stop referring to Israel as a "Jewish state". In the joint press conference Tuesday, Israeli President Peres said that for his country the ultimate solution for the Middle East crisis lies in "the two-state solution by which Israel will be a Jewish state and Palestine will be an Arab state" within "temporary borders". Similar statements have been issued by other Israeli officials. During the past seven weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Ehud Barak were in Egypt for talks with Mubarak. Both insisted on the "Jewish" character of Israel. Along with other Arab leaders, President Mubarak has insisted that such statements are not helpful for the purpose of resuming peace talks. Egyptian diplomats say that there is enough sympathy for the Arab position on this issue, especially with view to the fate of Arab-Israeli citizens. However, they add that concerned world capitals still need to put pressure on Israel to rectify its position. Moreover, Egypt is expected to press leaders attending the G8+G5 summit in Italy from 8 to 10 July on the need to pressure Israel to halt the expansion of illegal settlements. Arab countries, Egypt will inform the summit, are willing to take steps to reciprocate on the good will if Israel announces a total freeze of settlement construction. Last month, also in Italy, Arab League Secretary- General Amr Moussa told a G8 foreign ministers meeting that Arabs are willing to act positively but that they will give nothing for free. Arab diplomats in Cairo have confirmed that promises were made to US President Barack Obama that they would take steps "to open up to Israel" if it were to stop settlements and to negotiate seriously with the Palestinians to reach a final solution. The nature of these steps, the same diplomats add, would be decided by each country "independently". Other than the peace process, the L'Aquila meetings are expected to discuss other Middle East issues, especially developments in Iran and Iraq as well as the situation in Afghanistan, which were subject to detailed talks between Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev in Moscow Monday. Also listed on the agenda are the international economic crisis, food safety and security, climate change and world trade with an eye to concluding successfully the Doha round of world trade talks n 2010. Concerns over terrorism and nuclear proliferation will also be discussed in addition to developments in conflict areas in Africa, Latin America and Asia. The leaders of Australia, Indonesia and South Korea are to take part in the meeting. Members of the G8 are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the US. The eight countries rotate the presidency of the group. The European Commission attends G8 meetings. On Sunday, the G8 Junior summit was opened in Rome with the participation of children from all over the world. The G8 Junior summit is discussing key global issues and offering recommendations. The first ladies of the leaders present in L'Aquila will also meet to exchange thoughts and experience on issues related to social development. Additional reporting Mariam Fishere [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
