Israel to boycott Blair's peace conference

[emad]

The Independent
By Andrew Grice and Eric Silver in Jerusalem
21 December 2004


Tony Blair will take on the role of go-between for the Israelis and Palestinians as he tries to keep up the momentum of the Middle East peace process on a two-day visit to the region starting today.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon announced yesterday that Israel would not attend the Middle East conference Mr Blair plans to host in London after next month's Palestinian presidential election. The conference is due to discuss how the Palestinian Authority can meet its obligations under the internationally backed road map to peace.

As Mr Blair prepared for a flying visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah, British diplomats received the news of Mr Sharon's announcement with equanimity. It was seen as a logical outcome of preliminary talks last week between Israeli leaders and Sir Nigel Sheinwald, the Prime Minister's senior foreign affairs adviser.

"Mr Sharon's decision neither surprises me nor disturbs me," an official at the British embassy in Tel Aviv told The Independent. "It indicates an understanding on the part of the Israeli government of the purpose and scope of the London conference. It was always our intention that it should be a conference preparing the Palestinians for the day after Israel disengages from Gaza."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=595111

[IA_Seth]

1. Go figure... n/t

[Moderator]

2. duplicate topic

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1087742