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Blair attempts to launch new Middle East peace process

Paul Waugh Deputy Political Editor
Tuesday 17 December 2002 01:00 GMT
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Palestinian leaders are being invited to London next month in a fresh attempt by Tony Blair to break the deadlock in the Middle East peace process.

The Prime Minister announced the new conference would aim to speed up reforms to the Palestinian Authority.

Meanwhile Israeli soldiers shot dead two Hamas militants as they tried to plant explosives in the Gaza Strip. A third Palestinian man was killed by troops as he tended to songbirds in his backyard.

The London conference is intended to complement the efforts of the "Quartet" of Middle East mediators – the EU, the US, Russia and the UN – which has been trying to put together a peace plan.

Representatives from the Quartet, along with Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, will be invited to join leading Palestinian politicians and academics at the discussions.

Downing Street said the aim was to strengthen the political and security structures of the Palestinian Authority. Both Israel and the US have complained that the current state of the authority, in particular the leadership of Yasser Arafat, stands in the way of any peace.

Leading members of Palestinian "civil society" will be invited in an attempt to broaden the leadership beyond Mr Arafat and his circle. Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, will chair the conference.

However critics immediately pointed out that the proposals fell far short of the full-blown peace conference pledged by Mr Blair during his Labour Party conference speech in October.

Some observers alleged the move was a tactic to reassure Arab opinion ahead of an expected US-led military assault on Iraq.

Mr Blair announced the plans in the House of Commons after meeting Syrian President Bashar Assad at Downing Street at the start of his official visit to the UK.

Mr Assad brushed aside British concerns about his own country's support for Palestinian terrorism, claiming those Palestinians operating in Damascus were merely "press officers" for Palestinian communities in Syria and the Occupied Territories.

Speaking in the Commons, the Prime Minster accepted that in the short-term any progress towards peace would be limited by Israel's own 28 January general election.

But he said he hoped the London conference, a date for which has yet to be set, would offer a chance of real progress. "It is in the interests of both the Palestinians and Israelis that these reform efforts succeed, so that we can make a reality of President Bush's vision of two states – Israel and Palestine – living side by side in peace and security," he said.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers killed two Hamas guerrillas approaching a border fence. The military wing of Hamas said the men had attempted to plant explosives to be used against tanks.

A third Palestinian was shot dead by soldiers when he went outside to check on songbirds he kept in cages near his home adjacent to an army checkpoint in the central Gaza Strip, witnesses and relatives said.

Israeli military sources said Palestinian gunmen had shot overnight at troops guarding the Jewish settlement of Neve Dekelim. They said soldiers returned fire but could not say if they hit anyone.

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