US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opened direct Middle East peace talks in Washington yesterday, saying the presence of the two sides was itself a step toward peace.
“By being here today, you each have taken an important step toward freeing your peoples from the shackles of a history we cannot change and moving toward a future of peace and dignity that only you can create,” Clinton said at the start of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the State Department.
Meanwhile, Israeli and Palestinian forces scoured the occupied West Bank for gunmen in the second attack claimed by Hamas, a staunch opponent of the negotiations, in as many days.
PHOTO: AFP
An Israeli military official hailed the cooperation with the Palestinian security forces, which he said was at its highest level since the 1993 Oslo accords launched the Middle East peace process.
Despite the flare-up of violence, US President Barack Obama on Wednesday called on both sides not to let slip a fleeting opportunity for peace, a Palestinian state and a secure Israel within a year, as he gathered the two leaders with King Abdullah II of Jordan and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak at the White House.
“This moment of opportunity may not soon come again,” said Obama, who met the leaders separately on Wednesday, and then hosted a dinner that also included Clinton and diplomatic Quartet representative and former British prime minister Tony Blair.
The normally hawkish Netanyahu vowed to forge a “historic” peace with the Palestinians and Abbas responded by calling for an end to bloodshed after the latest Hamas attacks, but also demanded a halt to Israel settlement activity.
“President Abbas, you are my partner in peace,” Netanyahu said during a press appearance in the East Room of the White House on Wednesday. “I came here today to find an historic compromise that will enable both our peoples to live in peace and security and dignity.”
Netanyahu vowed to obtain security assurances, warning “terrorists” would not block the path to peace.
“We left Lebanon, we got terror. We left Gaza, we got terror. We want to ensure that territory we concede will not be turned into a third Iranian-sponsored terror enclave aimed at the heart of Israel,” he said.
Turning to Netanyahu, Abbas condemned Tuesday’s attack that killed four Israelis and Wednesday’s strike in which two more were injured.
“We do not want at all that any blood be shed ... one drop of blood on the part of Israelis and Palestinians,” he said.
The Palestinian leader also demanded a total freeze on settlement activity.
“We are under no illusions. Passions run deep. Each side has legitimate and enduring interests. Years of mistrust will not disappear overnight,” Obama said.
TYPHOON: The storm’s path indicates a high possibility of Krathon making landfall in Pingtung County, depending on when the storm turns north, the CWA said Typhoon Krathon is strengthening and is more likely to make landfall in Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said in a forecast released yesterday afternoon. As of 2pm yesterday, the CWA’s updated sea warning for Krathon showed that the storm was about 430km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point. It was moving in west-northwest at 9kph, with maximum sustained winds of 119kph and gusts of up to 155kph, CWA data showed. Krathon is expected to move further west before turning north tomorrow, CWA forecaster Wu Wan-hua (伍婉華) said. The CWA’s latest forecast and other countries’ projections of the storm’s path indicate a higher
SLOW-MOVING STORM: The typhoon has started moving north, but at a very slow pace, adding uncertainty to the extent of its impact on the nation Work and classes have been canceled across the nation today because of Typhoon Krathon, with residents in the south advised to brace for winds that could reach force 17 on the Beaufort scale as the Central Weather Administration (CWA) forecast that the storm would make landfall there. Force 17 wind with speeds of 56.1 to 61.2 meters per second, the highest number on the Beaufort scale, rarely occur and could cause serious damage. Krathon could be the second typhoon to land in southwestern Taiwan, following typhoon Elsie in 1996, CWA records showed. As of 8pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 180km
TYPHOON DAY: Taitung, Pingtung, Tainan, Chiayi, Hualien and Kaohsiung canceled work and classes today. The storm is to start moving north this afternoon The outer rim of Typhoon Krathon made landfall in Taitung County and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春半島) at about noon yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, adding that the eye of the storm was expected to hit land tomorrow. The CWA at 2:30pm yesterday issued a land alert for Krathon after issuing a sea alert on Sunday. It also expanded the scope of the sea alert to include waters north of Taiwan Strait, in addition to its south, from the Bashi Channel to the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島). As of 6pm yesterday, the typhoon’s center was 160km south of
SECURITY: The New Zealand and Australian navies also sailed military vessels through the Strait yesterday to assert the right of freedom of navigation The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force on Wednesday made its first-ever transit through the Taiwan Strait in response to the intrusion by a Chinese reconnaissance aircraft into Japan’s sovereign airspace last month, Yomiuri Shimbun reported yesterday. The Japanese news platform reported that the destroyer JS Sazanamisailed down through the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday, citing sources in the Japanese government with knowledge of the matter. Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi declined to comment on the reports at a regular briefing because they concern military operations. Military vessels from New Zealand and Australia also sailed through the Strait on the same day, Wellington’s defense ministry
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