Palestinian Authority Minister of Information Riyad al-Maliki, who holds also the portfolios of Justice and Foreign Affairs, told members of the Foreign Press Association in Israel on Thursday that he had bilateral talks recently with the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Dr. Salaheddin Bachir (SP?) over two days – “our first official bilateral talks since we each took office, though we’ve met in other different fora, as a result of the positive relationship that exists at all levels in the Jordanian-Palestinian relationship”.
Al-Maliki said: “We want to cooperate bilaterally at all levels – particularly concerning the situation in Jerusalem”. Al-Maliki also mentioned the Israeli excavations around the Western Wall, which are nearby and under Al-Aqsa Mosque.
On the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, al-Maliki said: “We haven’t seen any change in any Israeli attitude. Instead, the number of incursions have increased, and the number of people detained has increased. If there is any change, it is one of considerable regression…We are totally disappointed. So far, we did not conclude any issue or sub-issue. So, here we have a serious problem.
“We are under tremendous pressure by two factors:
(1) from our own people, who are asking why we still believe in the approach of peaceful negotiations. We told them there will be peace dividends, but so far there is not a single one. Our people ask why? We, as the Palestinian leadership, must retain the backing of or own people, and to retain this, we have to deliver something to them.
(2) from the external Arab world. Since 2002, an Arab peace initiative has been on the table, and it was reiterated again in the Riyadh summit last year. Now, the Arab governments are asking how long should this be left on the table. At the last meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers they put tremendous pressure on us. They said our negotiations should be connected to Israel’s beginning to implement its obligations under the Road Map. Our President, Mahmoud Abbas, himself attended the Foreign Ministers’ meeting to convince them to go to the Annapolis Conference, and they agreed on condition that the settlement activities cease. Sixteen Arab countries attended – and settlement activity has only increased. Now, the Arabs are asking to reconsider, re-open, and re-discuss the entire Arab strategy, and our commitment to the Arab strategy for peace.
“On 24 April, our President will meet President Bush and explain to him this bleak picture, and will ask him clearly for American intervention. Then, in the next meeting (in May) in Sharm ash-Sheikh, we will hear a strong demand for real American intervention to salvage what was agreed in Annapolis”.
Al-Maliki said that he expects that U.S. Lt. General William Fraser’s recently completed report (on the actions of each side to comply with Phase I obligations of the Road Map) will soon be submitted by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to the members of the Quartet (U.S., E.U., Russia, and the UN), at a meeting in London on 2 May.
The Palestinian Authority Minister added: “If there was any direct positive outcome of Annapolis, it was the agreement on a trilateral security arrangement, which took the job of evaluating progress away from the Israelis, and gave it to the Americans. The Israeli attitude is totally biased toward us in terms of security.”
Now, Al-Maliki said, the Palestinians would like to see a similar third-party monitoring mechanism for the post-Annapolis negotiations: “We want to see a real (American) commitment in terms of time, effort, and high-level intervention, so that Israel will move forward with the negotiations and change its attitude. We need a monitoring mechanism to assess progress in the negotiations by a third party, who will judge whether there is progress or lack of it”.
As Palestinian President Abbas visited Moscow, al-Maliki said in Jerusalem that “the main aim of the (proposed) Moscow conference (in mid-June) is to evaluate what has happened since Annapolis”.
But, Israel is not inclined to support the Moscow conference, and it still insists – as Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said recently in Doha – that “The talks are bilateral only”.
Al-Maliki insisted that all Israel-Gaza crossings should be opened under the management of the Palestinian Authority (and not of Hamas). Regarding the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, al-Maliki said that “We have entrusted Egypt to use its good offices to open Rafah according to the formula that has existed since November 2005.” This is the agreement on movement and access negotiated by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice who stayed up all night — and on her birthday — to achieve, after the then-President of the World Bank, James Wolfenson, failed.
Al-Maliki gave the impression that the main reason the PA was insisting on retaining an unchanged version of this November 2005 agreement on movement and access was that it stipulated that Palestinian Presidential Guards (again, read: not Hamas) would be in charge on the Gazan side of the crossing.