Peres and Abbas met on the sideline of a global political gathering in Italy

Friday September 05, 2008 23:20 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Israeli sources reported on Friday that the Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, and the Israeli President, Shimon Peres, met on the sidelines of an annual meeting for political and business leaders in an Italian resort.

Abbas, Peres

Abbas and Peres delivered speeches on the political, diplomatic and the security situation between Israel, the Palestinian territories and the Arab world.

They said that Israel and the Palestinian Authority are closer than ever to achieving a peace deal.

 President Abbas vowed to try to achieve a peace deal with Israel by the end of this year but also admitted that the goal set by the US President, George W. Bush, might not be achieved.

Abbas said that he rejects the idea which states that Olmert would put forth a partial document for peace outlining the areas that both sides agree upon while leaving behind the most sensitive issues, such as Jerusalem.  

 He said that the peace deal must address all issues, and not partial matters.

 Palestinian and Israeli negotiations teams, Abbas and Olmert, held periodic meetings and talks since the Annapolis summit in November 2007. So far, the talks yielded no positive results that would advance the peace process.

 Yet, some Palestinian officials said that some progress was made on the issue of borders but the issue of Jerusalem remained as stuck as it always was.

 Also, the negotiators were unable to achieve any formula that addresses the plight of millions of Palestinian refugees.

Meanwhile, president Abbas said that if the two sides could not achieve a peace deal before the US president leaves office, “the new US administration should not wait seven more years to start the talks”.

 Peres, addressed the forum after Abbas and said that the two sides must try to reach an agreement, and must act on the idea that this agreement if possible to achieve.

 Peres also referred to the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas, and claimed that the movement “abuses the tools of democracy to install military and terrorist bases in addition to fanatic leadership”.

 He also said that the international community must be united in imposing harsh economic sanctions on Iran.

 Peres added that it is essential to achieve progress in peace talks with Syria and the two countries are now holding indirect talks via Turkish mediation.

Peres also said that he believes that if the Syrian President, Bashar Asad, visits Israel or invites the Israeli Prime Minster to visit Damascus then there will be a major chance.

 Furthermore, president Abbas said that any progress of talks between Israel and Syria could act as a positive aspect to facilitate talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

He added that if Israel adopts the proposal which was presented by the Arab League then “it will live in an ocean of peace with 27 Islamic Arab States”. 

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