British Prime Minister Tony Blair arrived in Jerusalem last night from Iraq, and constrained by a very tight schedule this morning will meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders. Originally he was to have met only with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but according to a senior government source, the British gave in to heavy pressure from senior political figures and agreed to meet with them. Blair will devote two hours to his meeting with Sharon, followed by a joint news conference. From there he will go to the King David Hotel for a 10-minute meeting with Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, a 20-minute meeting with Labor Party leader and former premier Shimon Peres and a 15-minute meeting with Industry Minister Ehud Olmert. Only then will Blair head to Ramallah, for a meeting with PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. The centerpiece of Blair’s visit is his initiative for a conference in London focused on strengthening the new Palestinian leadership. Sharon said yesterday that Israel will support the conference but will not attend. He said the conference is meant to influence the promotion of reforms in the PA, and to consolidate support for a sweeping plan to rehabilitate Gaza and the Palestinian economy. „Since the initiative is meant to deal with the relationship between the Palestinians and the donor countries, there is no point to us attending, because it will transform the conference into something political. The goal is to encourage the new leadership to impose law and order, back to normal life and a war on terror, and our presence won’t help and could hurt,” said Sharon during a meeting with officials from the Anti-Defamation League.
Britain told Israel that the London conference will meet at the end of February at the foreign minister’s level, and that the incoming U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be attending as well as counterparts from Egypt, Jordan, the Gulf states, G-8 countries, donor countries and the World Bank. The conference agenda is to focus on Palestinian commitments to security, law and order, the struggle against terror and economic reforms. The British are promising that the Palestinians will not receive any promises in Israel’s name, and that if the conference is successful a followup session will be held. Meanwhile, Egyptian Intelligence Minister Omar Suleiman met yesterday with Amos Gilad, head of the political-security branch in the Defense Ministry. The two are working on the details of the deployment of Egyptian troops along the border of the Philadelphi route, and made plans to meet again for further talks. Suleiman also met with Palestinian leaders for talks about a cease-fire and Egyptian training of PA security officers. Suleiman took part in Palestinian Authority ceremonies marking the end of the 40-day mourning period for Yasser Arafat, the late chairman of the PLO and head of the PA. At the main ceremony marking the occasion held in the Muqata, PLO Chairman Mahmoud Abbas – deemed the probable victor in the January 9 PA presidential elections in the territories – spoke of his commitment to continuing the Arafat legacy, specifying the goal of a state in the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and a just solution to the refugees right of return. World Bank talks World Bank President James Wolfensohn met with Sharon and other Israeli government officials yesterday as well as with Abbas and PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia. He heard promises from the Israelis for cooperation with the World Bank for advancing aid to the Palestinians, and a serious approach to the recently released World Bank report on rehabilitating the Palestinian economy. The bank is recommending increasing annual aid to the PA from $900 million to $1.4 billion, but conditions it on Israel easing checkpoints and closures, as well as on reforms by the PA. Sharon said that more can be done in the humanitarian sphere, but it depends on the Palestinian actions against terrorism. He proposed the World Bank find funding to upgrade „two to three crossings” between the territories and Israel, to ease Palestinian movement and movement of goods. The World Bank proposed in its report a pilot project for three such cressings. The Israelis said they were aware of the importance of the safe passage between Gaza and the West Bank for the Palestinians, and agreed something should be done to advance that issue. At his meetings with the Palestinians, the World Bank chief emphasized the importance of security reforms as well as governmental reforms and the war on corruption. He said the PA must decide soon what it will do with the settlement real estate that will be evacuated. The Palestinians asked for funding to pay for the reorganization and reequipment of their security services, as part of their reforms. Also in Israel yesterday was Italian Foreign Minister Gianfranco Fini, who met with Sharon and Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom. He said Italy would help train the „blue” civilian Palestinian police force. BPI-info
