Yes, "Liberty weeps" ... again!
Bloomberg
By Daniel Williams
April 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Arab League will only support new Middle East peace talks if the U.S. guarantees there is a freeze on Israeli construction in east Jerusalem, the spokesman for Secretary-General Amre Moussa said.
The 22-member Arab League will meet May 1 in Cairo to discuss supporting Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in proposed indirect negotiations. Abbas told Israel’s Channel Two television late yesterday that he is committed to starting talks organized by U.S. special envoy George Mitchell, who will serve as mediator.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government reached a secret understanding with the U.S. to delay or limit building in east Jerusalem in order to proceed with indirect talks, Israel’s Maariv newspaper reported yesterday without saying where it got the information. Efforts to get the negotiations under way stalled last month, during a visit by Vice President Joe Biden, when Israel announced a plan to build 1,600 homes in east Jerusalem, which it captured in the 1967 Middle East War.
Palestinians regard east Jerusalem as part of the West Bank and want it to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. Israel says the city must remain united under its control.
“We have heard lots of stories about freezes,” Moussa’s spokesman, Hisham Youssef, said in phone interview. “We will wait for U.S. guarantees before deciding to support the talks.”
The Arab League endorsed peace talks on March 3, providing Abbas with political cover to take part. The next day, Israel announced expanded construction in east Jerusalem and negotiation plans evaporated.
“We were burned before and we don’t want to be burned again,” Youssef said.
‘No Freeze’
Last week, Netanyahu told Israel’s Channel Two there would be no building halt. “I am saying one thing: There will be no freeze in Jerusalem,” he said. “There should be no preconditions for talks.”
Mitchell ended a three-day visit to the region on April 25 after meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas as part of a U.S. effort to arrange the indirect “proximity talks.” The former U.S. senator will return next week for another round of discussions with both sides, the American Embassy in Tel Aviv said.
Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks were suspended 16 months ago.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Williams in Cairo at dwilliams41@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Peter Hirschberg in Jerusalem at phirschberg@bloomberg.net.
