Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said on Thursday he would bombard Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon with demands at a forthcoming Middle East summit as Israel seeks to bolster the Palestinian leader in his efforts to rein in Islamist militants.
Likely to precede separate talks between the Palestinian leader and United States President George Bush on October 20 at the White House, confusion remains over the date of the meeting, casting doubt over the level of organisation.
Although Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Palestinian and Israeli officials said Abbas and Sharon would meet next Tuesday, Abbas said the date was still open.
“The date has not yet been decided,” he told reporters in Gaza City. “When the date is fixed, we will have a lot of demands,” he added.
Nevertheless, Abbas said he will use their third summit since they declared an end to years of violence last February, to ask Sharon to release Palestinian prisoners and withdraw troops from towns in the West Bank.
He said the twin principles of freeing detainees and transferring security in five West Bank towns was agreed in Egypt.
In the eight months since, Israel released around 900 prisoners and handed over Jericho and Tulkarem to the Palestinians, but froze transfers in Bethlehem, Ramallah and Qalqilya amid security concerns.
Abbas also said he would demand that Sharon halt settlement activity and the building of the controversial security barrier in the West Bank.
Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel was willing to use the summit to consider improvements to Palestinian life, such as lifting roadblocks and allowing more workers into Israel.
“Any gesture on our part which could ease the daily life of the Palestinians without endangering our security may be considered,” he said.
The summit will replace a meeting scheduled for October 2 that was cancelled following an escalation of violence in the Gaza Strip.
A round of deadly Israeli air strikes and militant rocket attacks, which Abbas proved powerless of bringing to an end, shook international hopes for a breakthrough in the peace process after Israel’s historic pull-out from Gaza.
In exchange for goodwill gestures, Olmert said Israel will press home demands that the Palestinian Authority dismantle and disarm militant factions.
Abbas on Thursday reiterated calls on Palestinian movements to stop carrying weapons in public and internal fighting in the Gaza Strip.
“Today the Gaza Strip is practically liberated, allowing it to develop and aspire to a better life … We have had enough martyrs and victims. It is time for us to have a smile on our faces,” he said.
Powerful militias have so far flouted calls from Abbas to disarm since Israel left Gaza, as relations between his ruling Fatah party and Islamist group Hamas disintegrated into deadly internecine clashes on Sunday.
One Sharon aide said Bush had put pressure on Israel to agree to the summit, which would take place at Sharon’s Jerusalem residence.
“Bush pushed for the summit to be held because he is trying to promote the roadmap,” the official told Agence France Presse, requesting anonymity.
The peace plan, drafted by the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, has made practically no progress since its fanfare launch two years ago.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said he would meet Sharon’s chief advisor, Dov Weisglass, on Friday to prepare for the summit that he also said would focus on the roadmap.
The summit will precede the Palestinian leader’s White House talks with Bush and comes with Abbas squeezed by militants and MPs ordering him to appoint a new government within two weeks to better address the security mess.
A Bush spokesperson has said the talks would focus on Palestinian efforts to crack down on extremists, improve governance, kickstart the economy, implement security reform and quell anti-Israel violence.
Abbas made it clear during a recent visit to Cairo that he expected Washington to rein in its ally Israel, which has carried out raids on militant targets inside Gaza after its pull-out of ground troops. – AFP