Tuesday, November 20, 2007

List of Invitees to Mideast Peace Talks.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is inviting representatives from more than 40 countries, groups of nations, financial and other institutions and individuals to a Middle East peace conference it will host next week in Annapolis, Md.

The main participants, Israel and the Palestinians, received invitations on Tuesday and U.S. embassies in the invited countries and diplomats accredited to the non-sovereign entities were to be notified to request the presence of their host government at the foreign minister or other appropriate level, according to officials familiar with the process.

The following is a partial list of confirmed invitees, according to those officials, who provided it on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement of the conference to be held on Nov. 27 in-between meetings in Washington. Representation for most invitees is not clear.

_ The United States, host, to be represented by President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
_ Israel, to be represented by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
_ Palestinians, to be represented by President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials.

Members of the international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East other than the United States:

_ The United Nations, to be represented by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
_ The European Union, expected to be represented by EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana and External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the bloc.
_ Russia, expected to be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
_ Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the quartet special representative to the Palestinians.

Members of the Arab League committee tasked with pursuing a Saudi initiative for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal:

_ Arab League, to be represented by Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
_ Algeria.
_ Bahrain.
_ Egypt.
_ Jordan.
_ Lebanon.
_ Morocco.
_ Qatar.
_ Saudi Arabia.
_ Sudan.
_ Syria.
_ Tunisia.
_ Yemen.

Other Arab nations:

_ Kuwait.
_ Iraq.
_ Libya.
_ Mauritania.
_ Oman.
_ United Arab Emirates.

Members of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries not included in above categories:

_ France.
_ Germany.
_ Britain.
_ Canada.
_ Japan.
_ Italy.

Other nations:

_ China.
_ Norway.
_ Turkey.
_ Vatican.
_ Brazil.
_ Australia.

Financial and other institutions:

_ International Monetary Fund.
_ World Bank.
_ Organization of the Islamic Conference.

(This version CORRECTS UPDATES to ADD Israelis, Palestinians receive invitations, SUBS 11th graf, 'The European ...,' to correct typo in EU commissioner's name — Ferrero, sted Ferraro.)

On a side note: notice that Iran is not on the list of invitees.

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