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Israelis, Syrians, and Palestinians at the Madrid Conference
Photo: AP
Photo: Hagai Aharon
Shlomo Ben-Ami
Photo: Hagai Aharon
Photo: Reuters
Osama El-Baz
Photo: Reuters
Photo: AP
Hanan Ashrawi
Photo: AP

Syrian envoy at Madrid Conference: We want negotiations

Assad's representative says despite signals from Damascus, Israel thwarted all attempts to arrive at arrangement. According to him, peace process must be renewed because Israel ultimately needs to withdraw from Golan Heights. Israeli representative Prof. Shlomi Ben-Ami says there is no issue that is unsolvable through negotiations

Syrian representative at the second Madrid Conference Riad Daoudi said Thursday, "Syria's intentions are clear. Negotiations are the strategic option declared by President Bashar Assad, but Israel's intentions are unclear. Israel has hesitated since the first Madrid Conference, and has thwarted all attempts to arrive at an arrangement, especially between 1996 to 2000."

 

The second Madrid Conference is taking place 15 years after the first Madrid Conference, which was the first meeting in which both Israeli and Palestinian representatives took part.

 

The Syrian representative, who is serving as Assad's attorney general, added that he arrived at Madrid on the backdrop of optimal conditions for renewing the peace process. According to him, the absence of just peace in the Middle East is the reason for the region's instability.


MK Pines-Paz, Shlomo Ben-Ami, MK Hasson, and Dalia Rabin at conference (Photo: AP)

 

"The lack of stability won't be solved through force. Syria's repeated calls to return to negotiations in the same formula as the first Madrid Conference are calls to the entire region, and for involvement of the international community," he Daoudi said.

 

Daoudi pointed a finger at the United States for not advancing the peace process.

 

Official vs. unofficial talks

"The current US president abandoned the peace process because the Iraqi issue is at the top of his agenda, and because the policy of the American regime cause more tension in the region," Daoudi claimed.

 

Upon concluding his statements, the Syrian representative charged that Israel needs to withdraw from the Golan Heights to the 1967 borders.

 

However, Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Shara said that the Syrian representatives participating in the conference are not doing so on an official mission, but on a personal one, as was reported by London-based newspaper al-Hayat.

 

According to him, the Syrian side "doesn't have any connection with the Israeli side," and won't participate in bilateral talks but will only present the position of Damascus. "Syria is demanding that negotiations be officially renewed, and these are unofficial talks," he clarified.

 

The Israeli representative, Prof. Shlomo Ben-Ami, said in his speech that no breakthrough has yet to be achieved 15 years after the first Madrid Conference.

 

"The situation in the Middle East necessitates international diplomatic efforts for peace. Time is running out," said Ben-Ami.

 

Ben-Ami added that there is no need to reinvent the wheel, and, as such, the solution can be found in existing initiatives. "The dividing gaps are microscopic, and there is nothing that can't be solved in the framework of negotiations," he said.

 

Ben-Ami noted that the residents of Israel would agree to pay the heaviest price if they were sure that true peace and a solution to the conflict would ensue.

 

'Europeans best mediators'

Egypt's Presidential Political Advisor Osama El-Baz said, "The European community is the most fitting mediator to help solve the Arab-Israeli conflict and to reach an agreement with which we all can live. The Europeans have always been closer to us than others."

 

El-Baz also responded to the Hamas government, saying, "A Hamas official recently declared that his organization is prepared to talk with Israel as a state, as an entity, as a reality that can't be ignored, and this should be dealt with. Hamas is more pragmatic than everyone thinks."

 

El-Baz also spoke about the Syrian track and Assad's calls to renew negotiations, saying that "the Syrians don't have any real interest in blocking the path to peace."

 

'Stop using Palestinians as an excuse'

The Palestinians were represented by Hanan Ashrawi, who also participated in the first Madrid Conference. According to her, the Palestinian problem is at the heart of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

 

"If you put security ahead of peace, there will never be peace. Israel understood that it doesn’t matter how much force it uses against the Palestinians, it won't break them," she said.

 

Ashrawi added that radicals in the Arab countries need to stop using the Palestinians as an excuse.

 

In regards to Hamas she said that it is forbidden to let Hamas' ascendance to power prevent advancements toward an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. "Abu Mazen (Abbas) and the PLO are the address for agreements with Israel," she said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.11.07, 18:07
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