US withdraws UN text on Mideast peace process.

The United States Friday withdrew a resolution it presented to the UN Security Council endorsing the relaunch of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks agreed in Annapolis, a diplomat here said.

Pressed for a reason -- possibly that Israelis and Palestinians were not consulted before the text was drafted -- US officials refused to be drawn, although their statements indicated some embarrassment.

"We looked at this matter, talked about it and at the end of the day the Secretary (of State Condoleezza Rice) believes that the positive results of Annapolis speak by themselves," said State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.

"You take a look at all the positive effects that came out of Annapolis and we were not sure that we saw a need to add anything to the conversation. Sometimes the results of the events speak for themselves," he added.

The US draft said the council "endorses the program of action for negotiations and implementation of outstanding obligations ... agreed upon by the Israeli and Palestinian leadership at Annapolis, Maryland on November 27, 2007."

On Thursday, after the session at which the draft was submitted, the US ambassador to the UN, Zalmay Khalilzad, said Security Council members intended to discuss the text with the parties involved.

His comments appeared to suggest that Israel and the Palestinians had not been consulted before the text was drafted. And there were even doubts whether the US State Department had been informed that the text was to be presented Thursday.

Khalilzad's deputy, Alejandro Wolff, on Friday was a bit more forthcoming: "There were a series of consultations and the upshot was that there were some unease with the idea of that type of product, and the focus, we all realised again, should be placed and remain on Annapolis and the understanding that was reached there."

A senior US government official, who asked not to be named, told reporters: "I don't think anybody saw the need (for a resolution).

"Inevitably when you get into this process, you have to do a cost-benefit analysis. Yeah, sure there might be some slight benefit by passing such a thing.

"But whenever you open these sorts of things up, you open it up to just turning into a Christmas tree for whatever it is you want to add there."

After the draft resolution was withdrawn, UN permanent representative for Palestine Riyad Mansour said: "We were supportive of a reaction of the Security Council to support what came out from Annapolis in any form."

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, speaking to reporters in Tunisia, also came out in favour of the draft resolution, saying it was "proof of how serious the US administration" is in its support of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

France's UN Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert said Paris "deemed it useful for the Security Council to express its support to the dynamics created in Annapolis."

Israel's deputy permanent representative Daniel Carmon, however, thought differently: "We were not sure (the draft resolution) was the appropriate venue," he said.

Another Israeli diplomat said his government had not pushed for a UN resolution of support for Annapolis since it considered the relaunch of the peace process a bilateral matter between Israelis and Palestinians.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said late Friday Arabs are engaged in consultation and evaluation of the outcomes of the Annapolis Conference, and the coming few weeks will determine whether the meeting can be considered a move forward.

Middle East News Agency (MENA) quoted the Arab official as saying that this evaluation would be based on what took place in the occupied territories and between the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

The Russian proposal for holding a second conference in three months time to evaluate the progress in negotiations "is important and much needed," he added.

Moussa noted that the Annapolis Conference did not only see Syrian participation, but its agenda also included the Syrian-Israeli and Lebanese-Israeli tracks, and the allocation of a session for discussing these two matters at the conference "indicates the beginning of efforts in these two tracks."

As for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's three objections, which threw shadows of doubt over the seriousness of the Israeli side in resolving the existing problems, Moussa said, "There is doubt over the seriousness of the Israeli side, and also in the seriousness of the Americans in pushing the Israeli side into being serious (in handling issues at hand)."

He added that seriousness was expected in such meetings as the Annapolis Conference, saying that it was "our role, and that of the US side and the international community to remove the Israeli objections because they are negative and complicate matters, and can even bring us to a more dangerous point than pre-Annapolis."

The secretary general said he had held a series of contacts yesterday over the proposal for a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution on Palestinian-Israeli peace, which included phone calls to the UNSC presidency, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, and officials of Saudi Arabia, which is heading the peace initiative committee.

It was agreed that any UNSC statement or resolution must include specific articles that push forth negotiations, he said, "that is if a UNSC statement is issued at all." Moussa noted that the draft resolution was withdrawn, and thus the idea of issuing a UNSC statement was aborted.

Meanwhile, Moussa said the Arab League welcomed the growing Lebanese agreement over General Michel Suleiman as presidential candidate and described him as "a respectable man." He said inter-Lebanese deliberations over the president was in itself a constructive step, adding that initiatives of the Arab League and Europe remained on the table.

"Deliberations are now ongoing between the Lebanese, and what is important is resolving the Lebanese crisis," Moussa concluded. (end) rg.

US President George W. Bush brought together Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas in the Maryland state capital on Tuesday in a bid to revive the stagnant Middle East peace process.

The two sides agreed in Annapolis to relaunch their stalled peace talks immediately, aiming for a deal including a separate Palestinian state by late 2008.

The US-proposed draft resolution to the UN Security Council had called "on all states to lend their diplomatic and political support to Israeli-Palestinian efforts to implement their agreed program of action, including by encouraging and recognizing progress and preventing any support for acts of violence or terrorism intended to disrupt their efforts."

The UN draft resolution also called "on those states and international organizations in a position to do so to assist in the development of the Palestinian economy, including at an upcoming donors' conference in Paris."



http://english.alarabonline.org/display.asp?fname=2007%5C12%5C12-01%5Czsubz%5C912.htm&dismode=x&ts=01/12/2007%2010:42:44%20Õ