Rice, Abbas Encouraged About Mideast Meet
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas expressed unexpected confidence Monday that an upcoming U.S.-hosted Mideast peace conference could open the way to a peace deal, possibly within a year.
Only a day earlier, the top Israeli and Palestinian negotiators had warned that they were running into difficulties in preparing for the conference, which is to be held in coming weeks in Annapolis, Maryland. The conference is to relaunch talks on a final peace deal, which broke down in 2001.
The core issues are the status of Jerusalem, Palestinian refugees and final borders, reports CBS News correspondent Robert Berger. Also, the Palestinians want a timetable for establishment of a Palestinian state, but Israel wants a slower approach. It says that first, the Palestinians must take steps to curb terrorism.
Abbas said Monday that he has received "encouraging signs" from Israel and the U.S.
In other developments:
"I agree with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert that there is a real possibility to achieve peace, and I say we are serious to use this opportunity to reach this historical peace," Abbas said at a joint news conference with Rice.
Rice said she was "tremendously impressed by the seriousness" Israeli and Palestinian leaders have shown in moving toward renewed peace talks, but gave no specifics. "I'm quite confident that the will is there on both sides that people want to end this conflict," she added.
She also expressed hope that a peace deal could be reached "within the time remaining for the Bush administration," meaning a little over a year. Olmert had made a similar reference on Sunday, apparently to address Palestinian demands for setting a deadline for peace talks.
An Abbas aide, Nabil Abu Rdeneh, said the Palestinian leader won assurances from Rice that all the key issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - that includes borders, Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees - will be dealt with in peace talks that are to follow the Annapolis conference.
Abu Rdeneh said the U.S. also promised that Israel would meet its short-term obligations under the first stage of the three-stage "road map" plan. The internationally backed plan - meant to lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state - has been dormant for four years, but is being revived as a way of trying to boost confidence ahead of the Mideast conference.
Israel's initial road map obligations include freezing West Bank settlements, dismantling illegal settlement outposts, easing Palestinian movement and redeploying troops in the West Bank. "Rice told Abbas that Olmert has agreed to implement the first phase of the road map," Abu Rdeneh said.
For their part, Palestinians must disarm militants, round up illegal weapons and reform their security services. The Palestinians say they've made progress in meeting these requirements, though Israel says they have a long way to go.
Israel, meanwhile, continues to expand settlements, has not dismantled any of the dozens of outposts and has not eased Palestinian movement in the West Bank. Olmert said Sunday that Israel is willing, in principle, to meet its obligations, and suggested that the Palestinians haven't really started yet, either.
Abbas reiterated Monday that both sides should start immediately and in parallel to carry out their obligations. Palestinian officials said they want Rice to impose a timetable for these steps.
Rice met separately Monday with Abbas, Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and the top Palestinian negotiator, Ahmed Qureia. On Sunday, she held talks with Israeli leaders and, along with Olmert, addressed a Jerusalem conference of leaders, former peace negotiators and scholars.
Rice is in the region to check on progress in preparing for the conference. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have been trying to write a joint document that would serve as a blueprint for resolving their conflict. Both sides acknowledged publicly on Sunday that they're facing difficulties.
In a speech Sunday night, Rice warned that if the conference fails to produce progress toward setting up a Palestinian state, Muslim extremists would increase their influence. "If we do not act now to show the Palestinians a way forward, others will show them a way forward," she said.
Rice said both sides must take advantage of the current opportunity. "Palestinians have waited too long for the dignity that will come with an independent state," she said. "We have all waited too long for peace."
The Palestinians have asked for setting a deadline for a peace deal, pointing to more than a decade of failed efforts, but Israel has rejected the idea. Instead, Israel says assurances of its determination should be enough.
Olmert told Sunday's gathering that he believes "real accomplishments" are possible in the remaining year of President Bush's term. "There is no intention of dragging the negotiations on endlessly. There is no reason to suffer the same foot-dragging which previously characterized our discussions," he said.
Meanwhile, Olmert is considering a Palestinian request that he release some 2,000 of the 12,000 Palestinian prisoners Israel holds before the Annapolis summit, officials said Monday.
Fayyad told The Associated Press in a weekend interview that it is time for Israel to make bold moves to reassure the Palestinian people it is serious about peace negotiations. Freeing 2,000 prisoners ahead of the conference would help to boost trust, Fayyad said.
The Yediot Ahronot daily said Israel would, among others, free several prisoners jailed for planning or carrying out attacks on Israelis. In the past, Israel has been reluctant to free such prisoners, but Yediot reported that the prisoners in question have already served dozens of years in jail.
Israeli government spokesman David Baker said that "Israel received a request to release Palestinian prisoners and is considering it."
Israel, which conducts nightly arrest raids in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, has released about 340 Palestinian prisoners in recent months.