WHISTLER (Canada), June 14: Clear divisions were on display on Thursday between Group of Eight nations over calls for a timetable to be set for a Middle East peace settlement, an idea rejected by President George W. Bush.
Foreign ministers of the rich nations club meeting here appeared keen to take the opportunity to send a message to Bush as he prepares to lay out his Middle East strategy to the world after a flurry of talks with Mideast leaders.
And they warned that there was no alternative to dealing with Yasser Arafat, following criticism that Bush has backed Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s strategy of marginalising the Palestinian leader.
Secretary of State Colin Powell, seen by some European officials here as a moderating influence on US foreign policy, admitted there were differing approaches on establishing a date to reach a Middle East settlement.
“There are those who believe that you have to put forward as soon as possible a political horizon that has has a timeline,” he said at a press conference concluding two days of talks at Whistler ski resort.
“There are other points of view that suggest it is not the best way to move forward. We are examining all of that and in due course the president will reach his conclusion and communicate that conclusion to the world.”
But European Union foreign affairs supremo Javier Solana immediately interjected: “A timeline would be very helpful.”
And Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov added: “It would give a much clearer prospect for a settlement,” though he argued that the substance of any peace initiative was more important than its deadline.
Bush said on Saturday that he was not ready to announce a “specific calendar” for announcing a Palestinian state, but called for reforms to the Palestinian Authority to start “immediately.”
But Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak argued in talks with Bush at Camp David last week that a timetable was vital, saying it would give hope to Palestinians and help to halt suicide attacks in Israel.
Bush, who met Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal Thursday said he would lay out a vision for the “evolution of a Palestinian state,” as the White House said he may opt for creating a provisional nation alongside Israel.
His words came amid new jockeying for position in the region, as Arafat responded to US calls for reform of the Palestinian authority by pledging to announce dates for local, legislative and presidential elections within days.
The G8 ministers all committed to the principle of a ministerial level Middle East peace conference backed by Arab nations and the United States.
However some diplomats here privately expressed concern that the United States had allowed the proposed date for such a meeting to slip.
And European policymakers here tacitly warned Bush that there was no alternative but to deal with Arafat.
“It is not in our gift to determine the nature of the leaders with whom we deal,” said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Asked whether as a major donor of humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Arafat’s Palestinian Authority, Europe was concerned about him being marginalised, European Union external affairs commissioner Chris Patten said with charateristic bluntness: “You can’t choose the leaders you deal with, you have to take reality as it is.”
Both Straw and Patten, who as leading lights of the British Labour and Conservative parties spent much of the 1980s at each other’s throats, did however stress the need for reforms in the Palestinian Authority.
Powell later in an interview with Canadian CTV television agreed that Arafat could not be marginalised.
“If you ignore him and say he isn’t there and he is there, and the Palestinian people look to him as their leader, then you do nothing.
“Obviously our disappointment in his performance and the Israeli point of view that says we’re not sure this guy can be a partner for peace.’’—AFP