Abbas holds talks in Spain before heading to U.S. for Bush meet

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas was to meet with Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and King Juan Carlos in Madrid on Wednesday, in the penultimate stop on a tour that has included Jordan, Egypt and France, and will culminate in a meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush in Washington on Thursday. The Madrid talks are expected to include discussions on Israel’s suspension of contacts with the Palestinian Authority following two drive-by shootings over the weekend in which Palestinian gunmen killed three Israelis near West Bank settlements. The leaders are also expected to talk about Palestinian legislative elections scheduled for January and a summit next month in Barcelona of European Union heads of state or government and leaders of countries on the Mediterranean basin. Abbas and Israeli leaders have been invited to attend the summit. On Thursday, Abbas will hold talks in Washington, where he will face questions on the ongoing terror in the West Bank, as well as on Hamas participation in Palestinian elections. During his White House meeting with Bush, Abbas is to demand American intervention in halting Israeli construction in the West Bank, and for the U.S. to pressure Israel to dismantle illegal settlement outposts. After the meeting, the pair are to hold a joint press conference in the Rose Garden. Bush is expected to praise Abbas’ leadership and his determined stand against terror. The U.S. president will also reiterate his commitment to the two-state solution and the political process based on the road map. U.S. officials hope the meeting will boost Abbas’ status in the PA, and the chairman will be welcomed in a very positive light. Israeli sources believe the meeting will not produce any surprises that could weaken Jerusalem’s position in future peace talks. According to the sources, U.S. efforts in the Palestinian arena will focus over the coming months on the economic recovery process in the Gaza Strip that is being directed by Quartet envoy James Wolfensohn. Sources in Washington have said in recent days that U.S. officials will question Abbas on matters relating to the ongoing terror in the territories and Hamas’ participation in the elections to the Palestinian Legislative Council in January. Israeli and U.S. officials are at odds over the issue of Hamas’ participation in the elections: The United States continues to view Hamas as a terror organization, but in messages conveyed to Israel recently, U.S. officials have rejected any intervention in internal Palestinian politics. U.S. sources have even said that banning Hamas from participating in the election will strengthen the organization and weaken Abbas. Israeli officials believe that U.S. officials, in their talks with Abbas, will try to propose options that would facilitate Hamas’ participation in the elections under certain conditions, thus allowing the PA to present the organization as having changed and moderated its positions. Another bone of contention between Israel and the United States concerns the supply of arms and ammunition to the PA. The U.S. administration believes Abbas’ regime must be bolstered, including by means of supplying it with arms and ammunition to combat the terror organizations. Israel is opposed to the sale of arms to the Palestinians. Under a possible compromise, Israel may eventually agree to the supply of ammunition to the PA, but no new weapons. For their part, senior PA officials said Tuesday that Israel’s construction activities in the settlements will be the focal point of Abbas’ talks with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and other U.S. officials. According to the sources, Abbas is also slated to meet with Vice President Dick Cheney, House and Senate leaders and members of the Arabic diplomatic corps in the U.S. capital. Abbas, the sources said, will demand that Israel uphold its obligations vis-a-vis the settlements – the dismantling of illegal outposts and the suspension of construction. „Abbas is expected to request from President Bush the fulfillment of all the American and Israeli commitments in this regard, and first and foremost, the promise to avoid a situation in which the withdrawal from Gaza will constitute the end of the peace process,” said a member of Abbas’ delegation to Washington. Abbas, say the Palestinian sources, is also expected to demand a resolution to the Rafah crossing issue and the matter of the opening of the sea and air ports in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, Palestinian Foreign Minister Nasser al-Kidwa Tuesday accused Israel of trying to „sabotage” Abbas’ visit to Washington. „Israel is trying to harm Palestinian-American relations and undermine the Bush-Abbas summit,” al-Kidwa charged. „It is trying to amend the summit’s agenda in keeping with its own, which is based on what it defines as `a war on terror and the rounding up of the arms of the resistance.’ For political reasons, Israel is presenting the PA as incapable, and is not taking any steps to strengthen it.” The PA chairman’s trip to Washington follows meetings with Jordan’s King Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, French President Jacques Chirac and Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora. Abbas was also expected to stop over in Spain before heading to Washington. BPI-info