U.S. President Barack Obama
is stepping up his personal involvement in the Middle East peace process.
He has invited regional leaders to the White House for individual talks in
the coming weeks.
The invitations are going out to the leaders of Israel, Egypt and the
Palestinian Authority.
Details are still being worked out, but the administration says President
Obama hopes to meet separately with Benjamin Netanyahu, Hosni Mubarak and
Mahmoud Abbas within the next six weeks.
US President Barack Obama (r) with Jordan's King Abdullah at the White House, 21 Apr 2009
Mr. Obama previewed this new
round of personal diplomacy on Tuesday, when he welcomed Jordan's King
Abdullah to the White House.
He said some people are cynical about the peace process, both in the
region and around the world. But he said progress is still possible.
"What we want to do is to step back from the abyss to say as hard as it
is, as difficult as it may be, the prospect of peace still exists," said
President Obama.
The president tried to mix optimism with realism as he took questions from
reporters at the end of the meeting with the Jordanian monarch.
He talked about the tough road ahead, but he indicated he expects some
positive signs in the not too distant future.
"My hope would be that over the next several months that you start seeing
gestures of good faith on all sides," said Mr. Obama.
Mr. Obama did not elaborate, but he said the parties know what kind of
confidence measures might be helpful.
The president stressed that the United States will do everything it can to
encourage those measures, noting that his special envoy, George Mitchell,
will continue discussions in the region.
Mr. Obama cautioned, though, that with a new government in Israel,
progress will not come overnight.
"I think it is very important to recognize that the Israelis now have had
a government for a few weeks," he said. "And it was a very complicated
process for them to put a coalition together. So I think more listening
needs to be done."
The president said with all the political changes taking place in the
region, both sides will need time to formulate and solidify their
positions. But he said there will come a point when the talking must stop,
and action must be taken.
Mr. Obama said again that he backs a two-state solution, despite the
reluctance of the new Israeli government to support Palestinian statehood.
He said tough decisions lie ahead for all parties, and vowed the U.S. will
do all it can to create the conditions where progress is possible.
Jordan's King said he hopes everyone involved in the peace process will
seize the opportunity.
"I think we are looking now at the positives and not the negatives in
seeing how we can sequence events over the next couple of months that
allows Israelis and Palestinians, and Israelis and Arabs to sit around the
table and move this process forward," said King Abdullah.
During the session with reporters, President Obama was also asked about
anti-Israel statements made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at a
U.N. conference on racism this week.
Mr. Obama said such comments hurt Iran's position in the world. But he
indicated he was not surprised by the Iranian leader's remarks, saying the
rhetoric was nothing new.转贴于:24EN.COM
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