MIDDLE EAST: EU's Solana expresses his confidence in Abbas as the president meets envoys from U.S., Russia

Record ID: 784823

  • Title: MIDDLE EAST: EU's Solana expresses his confidence in Abbas as the president meets envoys from U.S., Russia
  • Date: 28th October 2006
  • Summary: WIDE OF EXTERIOR OF THE BUILDING
  • Embargoed: 12th November 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Reuters ID: LVA1BBIY2YEQFL62JTIS2VFURFUC
  • Story Text: European Union Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana on Friday (October 27) expressed his support in Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
    Solana toured the West Bank of Nablus and met with Palestinian dignitaries.
    "President Abu Mazen is an intelligent man, and he has ideas. I'm not going to be the one to tell them. He will say what he is going to do, but you can be sure that he is very intelligent man, devoted to his people, and what ever he decides will be best for you (Palestinian People)." he told reporters during his visit.
    On Thursday, Solana met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah in a bid to resume peace negotiations in the region.
    After the meeting Solana and Abbas held a joint news conference in which Solana expressed the EU's support of Abbas at this difficult times of internal power struggle in the Palestinians territories.
    Abbas said that some talks are being held in order to arrange a meeting between the Palestinian President and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. He added that he wishes the future meeting to be successful in order to allow a better future for both people.
    Also on Thursday, Solana met various Israeli leaders in the coastal city of Tel Aviv as part of a series of meetings with regional leaders.
    He first met with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and later with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Shimon Peres and Defence Minister Amir Peretz.
    Solana arrived in the Middle East on Wednesday (October 25) for a four-day visit and is expected to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and visit Lebanon, Jordan and Egypt.
    On Wednesday, Solana met with Olmert, and Solana's visit is aimed to concentrate in particular on efforts towards a resumption of long-stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, his office said in a statement.
    But peace talks collapsed in 2000 before the start of a Palestinian uprising and dimmed further when Hamas, sworn to Israel's destruction, took office last March after trouncing Abbas's Fatah movement in legislative elections.
    In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas met with U.S. Envoy to the Middle East David Welch and with Russian Diplomatic Representative to the Palestinian Territories Alexey Pogodin.
    Both Abbas and Olmert have stated in the past they were willing to hold a summit.
    Such a gathering would be their first formal summit since Olmert took over as Israeli leader in January when former prime minister Ariel Sharon was felled by a massive stroke.
    The Palestinians accuse Israel of giving Abbas the cold shoulder before Hamas won elections.
    Some world leaders have said the recent war in Lebanon underscored the need for Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks to remove a major trigger for regional tensions.
    A U.S.-backed road map to peace has stalled with neither side meeting their obligations under phase one of the document -- the Palestinians to start disarming militant groups and Israel to freeze building Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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