VARIOUS: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON HEADS FOR INDIA AS PALESTINIANS MEET FOR TALKS ON PREMIERSHIP
Record ID:
646513
VARIOUS: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON HEADS FOR INDIA AS PALESTINIANS MEET FOR TALKS ON PREMIERSHIP
- Title: VARIOUS: ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER ARIEL SHARON HEADS FOR INDIA AS PALESTINIANS MEET FOR TALKS ON PREMIERSHIP
- Date: 9th September 2003
- Summary: (W4) TEL AVIV, ISRAEL (SEPTEMBER 8, 2003) (REUTERS) MV ISRAELI FOREIGN MINISTER SILVAN SHALOM WALKING UP STEPS; SCU MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) ASKED ABOUT YASSER ARAFAT'S FUTURE, SHALOM SAYING "There will be a strategic discussion with the Prime Minister on this subject. We will hear all the heads of the security and afterwards we will make decisions. I just want you to know that there has been a big change in the opinion of the security establishment from what it was a year or two ago. (QUESTION: can you elaborate on that?) No." MV SHALOM IN A MEETING (3 SHOTS) (W3) ABU DIS, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 8,2003) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) NOMINATED PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER, AHMED KOREI, ALSO KNOWN AS 'ABU ALA', SAYING "I want to see what's the position of all the parties who are concerned about the peace process, what they want from the peace, you know?...what the Israelis, what they want, what they will offer. I want to see the Americans what kind of guarantees, what kind of support they will give. I want to see Europe, what kind of guarantees and support of the quartet, what kind of guarantees and support they will give. I'm not ready to go for a failure. I want to see whether peace is possible, or not. Thank you." SCU KOREI SITTING AT HIS DESK, LOOKING AT PAPERS (U4) RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 8, 2003) (REUTERS) MV OUTGOING PALESTINIAN PRIME MINISTER MAHMOUD ABBAS WALKING TOWARD MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PALESTINIAN OUTGOING PRIME MINISTER MAHMOUD ABBAS SAYING "He (Abu Ala) was nominated by different Palestinians and I wish him all the best in his mission. I don't want to participate in the government, that is why I submitted my resignation. God willing, the government will succeed...The new government needs international and Israeli cooperation and it needs Palestinian support." (MV LEAVING) (U3) KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (SEPTEMBER 8, 2003) (REUTERS) SLV SITE OF SUNDAY'S ISRAELI AIR STRIKE IN WHICH 15 PEOPLE WERE WOUNDED; SLV PEOPLE SIFTING THROUGH RUBBLE; MV CHILDREN HOLDING BIG PIECES OF MISSILE SHRAPNEL; INTERIOR WRECKED HOUSE (8 SHOTS)
- Embargoed: 24th September 2003 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: RAMALLAH AND ABU DIS, WEST BANK/ KHAN YOUNIS, SOUTHERN GAZA/TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
- City:
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflict,General,Politics
- Reuters ID: LVAEO091CM35EGSPBJ79GKZY4GTC
- Story Text: Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon heads for India, as Palestinians meet for talks on the premiership amid an Israeli air campaign against Hamas.
Israel's Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's four-day trip to New Delhi and Bombay is the highest-level Israeli visit to India since ties were established 11 years ago. He is to meet Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and other top officials.
Noting the trip coincides with the second anniversary of the September 11 hijack attacks in the United States, Sharon spokesman Raanan Gissin said: "Our contacts with India are definitely a triangular strategic relationship, in line with the U.S. stance on world terror."
Such sentiments are echoed in India, which like Israel considers itself vulnerable to hostilities by Muslim neighbours and Islamic militants.
Relations between the two countries have been underpinned by burgeoning Israeli defence sales. India spends as much as 2 billion United States dollars a year on Israel's ordnance and military technology exports, according to Israeli security sources.
The visit is expected to yield defence deals including the sale of a more than 1 billion USD Israeli airborne early warning radar system. The three Phalcon radars New Delhi seeks would put large parts of nuclear rival Pakistan under Indian surveillance.
Non-military trade between Israel and India has ballooned to an estimated 1.6 billion USD annually from 200 million USD in 1992, when they formalised ties after 42 years of tacit contacts.
Sharon took off as a U.S.-backed "road map" to Middle East peace continued unravelling, with Israel hunting Isl amic militants and the Palestinian leadership locked in a bitter power struggle over implementation of the plan.
On Sunday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, responding to speculation he might reconsider his decision to step down, said his resignation was final.
Israel's foreign minister Silvan Shalom said on Monday that while the Palestinians were having their internal process to nominate a new prime minister and cabinet it was not the time to comment on the legislative committee."
Shalom refused to be drawn on the possible future of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, but he did hint that Arafat's removal from Ramallah was becoming more likely, stating that the opinion of the security establishment had changed.
"There will be a strategic discussion with the Prime Minister on this subject (of Yasser Arafat). We will hear all the heads of the security and afterwards we will make decisions. I just want you to know that there has been a big change in the opinion of the security establishment from what it was a year or two ago," Shalom said, refusing to comment further.
Palestinian parliamentary speaker Ahmed Korei, Yasser Arafat's nominee for prime minister, said on Monday he wanted U.S. and European guarantees of support for peacemaking before accepting the post.
Arafat chose Korei on Sunday (September 7) to replace Abbas, who resigned in frustration a day earlier, complaining that the Palestinian president and Israel had obstructed his peace efforts and the United States had not given him enough backing.
Palestinian officials were expected to hold further political talks on Monday on the nomination and the powers that would accompany the post.
Abbas wished his successor luck for the future.
"He (Abu Ala) was nominated by different Palestinians and I wish him all the best in his mission...I don't want to participate in the government, that is why I submitted my resignation.God willing, the government will succeed.The new government needs international and Israeli cooperation and it needs Palestinian support," he said.
Soon after Arafat's decision on Sunday, Israel launched the latest in a series of missile strikes against Islamic militant groups. Helicopter gunships attacked the home of a member of Hamas's military wing, wounding 15 people.
The army said the building was used as a weapons arsenal and that ammunition and explosives blew up after the missiles hit.
Israeli media says the army has killed some 200 militants already. Despite public debate on the efficacy of the policy, Israeli officials insist the liquidations will persist until the Palestinians clamp down on militants. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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