Israel and Syria were to begin yesterday a fourth round of indirect peace talks under Turkish mediation, an Israeli official said.
Two advisers to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert — Shalom Turjeman and Yoram Turbowitz — were to travel to Turkey during the day to resume the talks, the source said on condition of anonymity.
“Israel’s desire for peace is very serious,” the official said. “That is why we expect that the process that has been begun will soon evolve into direct bilateral negotiations with a view to achieving significant results.”
PHOTO: AP
The Israeli-Syrian talks started in May after an eight-year freeze, and the third round was held early this month.
Under the format of the talks, Israeli and Syrian officials do not see each other and Turkish diplomats shuttle between them.
On Monday, Syria’s ambassador to the US called for an end to the “state of war” with Israel.
“We desire to recognize each other and end the state of war,” Imad Mustafa told a gathering of activists in Washington allied with Israel’s Peace Now movement.
“Here is then a grand thing on offer. Let us sit together, let us make peace, let us end once and for all the state of war.”
However, he added that any peace agreement would depend on an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
On Monday, Olmert told parliament a full Israeli-Palestinian peace accord that includes Jerusalem was not within reach this year but said differences over borders and refugees were bridgeable.
US President George W. Bush had urged both sides to sign a “peace treaty” before he leaves office in January, without offering details about what that deal should entail.
But Olmert, in remarks released by parliament after a closed-door hearing, said Jerusalem was too contentious an issue to be resolved this year and that Israel and the Palestinians should instead agree on a “mechanism” to tackle it next year.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Olmert’s comments showed “Israel’s determination to destroy the negotiations and the peace process.”
Olmert, who this month said Israel and the Palestinians had never been so close to an agreement, has been talking up peace prospects as he clings to office in the face of a police investigation that could force him to step down.
Officials said Olmert envisaged agreeing a joint document this year with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that sets out borders for a future Palestinian state, security arrangements and a way to deal with millions of Palestinian refugees. But the thorny issue of Jerusalem would be left out, they said.
“I do not see a viable possibility of reaching understandings on the issue of Jerusalem in the stated time frame,” Olmert was quoted by an official as saying.
“On the other three issues, I estimate that it would be possible to reach understandings by the end of the year, including the refugee issue,” Olmert said, describing the gaps on borders, refugees and security as “not insurmountable.”
Nabil Abu Rdainah, Abbas’s spokesman, said Jerusalem was a “red line” for Palestinians, who want the city’s Arab eastern half as the capital of their future state.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was