NEW YORK (AFP) — Key players in the Middle East peace process are busily voicing high hopes for a US-organized summit, despite a vague agenda and concerns over its outcome because Israeli and Palestinian goals are not the same.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas wants the summit, expected to be held in November, to cover core issues such as the possible borders of a future Palestinian state, the status of the contested holy city of Jerusalem, and the fate of Palestinian migrants.
"We believe that this meeting should deal with the ... issues of substance that would lead to full negotiations on the permanent status" of the Palestinians, Abbas said Monday after talks with US President George W. Bush.
The Palestinian leader is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly session where he hopes to rally support for Palestinian demands through a series of meetings on the sidelines of the UN event.
But Israel has sought to downplay expectations, with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert saying negotiators were working on a "joint declaration" which he wants to see agreed before the actual summit.
Such a declaration would touch on the primary issues of the Middle East conflict but would be more vague than the "accord of principles" promoted by Abbas.
"It is important to check to what point the Palestinians can carry out their commitments and this will be put to the test before we have to take any steps," said Olmert, who has taken pains to say the talks are "not a peace conference, but rather an international meeting."
Meanwhile Bush, who is organizing the summit, made grandiose statements in support of Middle East peace but made no reference to the summit or what he expected to come out of it when he spoke to reporters after meeting Abbas.
"The United States of America will work as hard as we possibly can to help you achieve the vision" of a two-state solution, Bush told Abbas at a news conference after their talks.
"I strongly support the creation of a Palestinian state. I believe it's in the interests of the Palestinian people, I believe it's in the interests of Israel to have ... democracies living side-by-side in peace," Bush said.
"And we want to help you realize that goal."
On Sunday, the European Union, Russia, United Nations and United States -- members of the Middle East quartet -- said they would "work for a successful international meeting and for the implementation of its conclusions," but refrained from any statements about what those conclusions might be.
Adding to the fray was the US decision to invite longtime foe Syria, and speculation over whether power player Saudi Arabia, which does not recognize Israel, would attend.
The 22-member Arab League welcomed US plans to invite Syria, but expressed doubts over its success because the quartet "does not deal with both sides in an impartial and balanced manner," a spokesman said.
Sensitive to those concerns, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana warned: "We have to go beyond the mere stating of the issues and try to put some more meat on every issue.
"Water, borders, security, Jerusalem, refugees -- those are the fundamental issues that have to be resolved at the end of the day, " he said.
"We can not afford a failure," he added. "Without any doubt, it would be going back several years."
Further complicating the talks is the June's seizure of Gaza by Hamas Islamists, and Israel's decision last week to designate the coastal strip a "hostile entity," a move that paved the way for cuts to basic supplies, fuel and electricity.
After talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice earlier this month, Abbas condemned the decision as "arbitrary" and warned that Israel's move, which drew widespread international criticism, would "harm our bilateral relations and our discussions."
For his part, Olmert has dismissed critics who say that Abbas, whose authority has been effectively limited to the occupied West Bank since Hamas seized Gaza in mid-June, was too weak to implement any agreement.
The Israeli premier has also said he would not allow "any shift from the roadmap and the sequence of steps that it lays out," referring to the blueprint which stipulates a cessation of Palestinian attacks and a freeze on Israeli settlements. The roadmap has languished since its launch in 2003.
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