US President George W. Bush yesterday launched the biggest Middle East peace initiative of his two terms in office ahead of a conference that has raised hopes and recriminations in the Arab world.
Bush said on Sunday he was "personally committed" to resolving the decades-old Middle East conflict.
He will separately host Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas ahead of the peace conference in nearby Annapolis, Maryland, which starts today and will be attended by about 40 countries including Israel's leading Arab foe Syria.
Olmert and Abbas are trying to agree on a joint statement to unblock the peace process that has been frozen since former US president Bill Clinton tried to broker a final settlement near the end of his presidency in 2000.
Olmert's spokeswoman Miri Eisin said that Bush is throwing his full weight behind the peace efforts in order to advance his vision of a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
"President Bush has always been deeply involved in the talks. His presence at the Annapolis meeting and his two-state vision offers a strong support for our and the Palestinians' ability to mark progress in the talks," she said.
Abbas's advisor Nabil Shaath said that "this is an opportunity to return the spotlight to the Arab-Israeli question."
But major differences remain between the Israelis and Palestinians over core issues like the status of Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
Criticism of the Saudi presence at the conference by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a blunt refusal by the Islamist Hamas movement which controls the Gaza Strip to recognize meeting's decisions have also clouded the preparations.
There have been painstaking negotiations over the joint statement outlining a solution to the conflict which the two sides wish to present at the conference.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday met Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian former prime minister Ahmed Qorei in a last-ditch bid to unblock the talks over the document.
Qorei said late on Sunday that "we are working seriously in order to reach a joint statement."
But State Department spokesman Sean McCormack cautioned that he would "not be surprised" if they failed to bridge their gaps before the conference starts.
Bush has worked to persuade some 50 countries and organizations -- including key Arab states -- to attend.
"I remain personally committed to implementing my vision of two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security," the president said in a statement.
In a coup for US diplomacy, a reluctant Saudi Arabia will sit at the same table with the Jewish state for the first time to discuss Middle East peacemaking.
Saudi Arabia has never recognized Israel and no senior official of the kingdom has held public talks with Israeli officials except for meetings at the UN and a 1996 international summit on fighting terrorism.
The Iranian leader telephoned King Abdullah to tell him that he wished Saudi Arabia was not taking part in the Annapolis conference, Iran's official media said.
"Arab countries should be watchful in the face of the plots and deception of the Zionist enemy," Ahmadinejad said.
The Iranian-backed Hamas movement stuck to its tough line of rejecting any concessions to Israel.
"The decisions taken at Annapolis are not binding on the Palestinian people, who have not authorized anyone, either Arab or Palestinian, to erase their rights," Hamas spokesman Fawzi Barhum said.
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to