CAIRO: While facing trouble at home, both Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed to resume peace talks in Annapolis after a seven-year impasse.With US President George Bush between them, the two beleaguered leaders managed to shake hands before heading back home to face stiff opposition from shunned group Hamas and Israeli hardliners opposed to the tenets of this process.The joint agreement was bland in nature, with no specifics mentioned on core issues, which was a term of disagreement between the two sides prior to the conference. However, there was the promise that the core issues would be tackled head-on in the coming negotiations.”We will not avoid any subject, Olmert told the group of diplomats, which included representatives from most of the Arab world. “While this will be an extremely difficult process for many of us, it is nevertheless inevitable, he said. The agreement also appointed the US as the chief and sole arbiter of the process. Part of their role will be to ensure that both sides adhere to the set guidelines including the freezing of Israeli settlements.Waleed Kazziha, political science professor at the American University in Cairo, said it appeared that for want of presenting something at the conference, the principals rushed through an under-prepared agreement.”I’m not too optimistic, he told Daily News Egypt, “it’s been done too late with very little preparation, as if it has been cooked in the last minute. “Neither we nor you must beg for peace from the other, Abbas said in his speech, “It is a joint interest for us and you. Peace and freedom is a right for us just as peace and security is a right for you and us. Hamas immediately poured scorn on Abbas’ statements, with spokesman Fawzi Barhoum declaring that the Palestinian president “has no mandate to discuss, to agree, or to erase any word related to our rights. He is isolated (and) represents himself only. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad labelled the conference a “failure. “It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive. Collapse is in the nature of this regime because it has been created on aggression, lying, oppression and crime. Soon, even the most politically doltish individuals will understand that this conference was a failure from the beginning, said Ahmadinejad, adding that the absence of Hamas devalued the conference.One of the underlying themes of the conference was to create a bloc of nations from the region to counter what is considered to be pervasive Iranian influence.Hamas is supported by Iran, but the group’s main backer, Syria was present at the conference, having agreed to attend under the premise that the Golan Heights would be discussed.The Golan Heights dispute was addressed in another session under the topic of Comprehensive peace questions, which covered other aspects of the Arab-Israeli dispute. Just 24 hours after reaching the agreement, Bush hosted Abbas and Olmert in the White House to ceremonially inaugurate the first direct negotiations between the two sides in seven years. There was even time for a rare meeting between the three leaders. American officials are pleased by the Arab support for the conference, which they and Israel deemed necessary for the resumption of peace talks. “It s going to be hard, but you had support in that room that you had not had from Arab states in the past, American Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on the NBC television network.Under the agreement, Abbas and Olmert will meet on a bi-weekly basis during the course of the negotiations to keep track of the process and ensure it is not discarded like those that came before it.
Annapolis agreement secured as both sides promise to pursue negotiations
