The Baker-Hamilton report
on Iraq has begun to strike waves in the Mideast on Wednesday. Hassan Harisha, deputy head of the Palestinian Legislative Council, says that the report is of the utmost importance.
"The Americans have understood that the source of the region's problems is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and that it must be resolved."
| Baker-Hamilton Report |
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| Baker report: Israel must withdraw from Golan / Yitzhak Benhorin |
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Special panel headed by James Baker and Lee Hamilton, which looked into situation in Iraq and Middle East, rules that 'in the context of a full and secure peace agreement, the Israelis should return the Golan Heights' |
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According to Harisha, the US administration seems to want real change in the Middle East. He emphasized however that the Palestinians are wary of optimism over such American reports and initiatives.
"The Americans have made declarations in the past and President Bush himself pledged that a Palestinian state would be established in 2005 and here we are at the start of 2007 and no Palestinian country has come into being.
"So that with all the importance of this report and the expectation that it will be implemented, we are cautious not to be too optimistic about it."
Harisha added that the report was achieved after the Americans sank in the Iraqi mud, and under the pressures of that mud "the Americans realized that the reason for the Iraqi crisis, the instability in the Middle East and their situation here in the region all starts with our conflict and the need to resolve it."
He added that "the Americans have understood the need to set a political process into motion in the Middle East if they want to see real change."
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