Medvedev in Cairo: Moscow to hold Mideast peace conference by end of 2009

Medvedev: Moscow to hold Mideast peace conference by end of 2009

2009-06-23 23:06:32

CAIRO, June 23 (Xinhua) --

The visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Tuesday that Moscow plans to hold a Middle East peace conference under the framework of two-state solution by the end of this year.

"Russia is exerting its best efforts to resume the peace talks in the Middle East according to the two-state solution and freezing settlements," Medvedev said at a joint press conference after talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

"We thank Egyptian president for his efforts to build mutual trust and cooperation in the Mideast," Medvedev said, adding that "We plan to hold before the end of this year a Moscow Middle East Conference."

The idea was hailed by Mubarak, who said "Russia is one of the greatest countries in the world and has clout on the Mideast peace process."

However, he said all the efforts should be collected to achieve Middle East peace. "Peace can not be achieved through one power. All efforts and powers, including the Russian, the Americans and those who love peace, should participate to solve the Palestinian cause," Mubarak said.

Medvedev arrived on Tuesday in Egypt, his first stop of an African tour that also includes Nigeria, Namibia and Angola.

It is the first visit for the Russian president to Egypt at the invitation of Mubarak, who visited Russia in 2008.

Russia, whose predecessor has played a much bigger role in the region, proposed in January a Middle East peace conference to be held in the first half of 2009.

The proposal was welcomed by Palestinians and Arabs, but snubbed by the United States and Israel, which were fretted about Russia's engagement with militant Hamas and its military aid to the moderate Palestinian National Authority(PNA).

On May 23, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Hamas' exiled politburo chief Khaled Meshaal in Damascus, which drew criticism from Israel.

Russia has also promised to provide 50 armored vehicles to the PNA. This move is at odds with the Israeli leadership, which favors a demilitarized Palestinian state beside the Jewish country.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

All sides confirm attendance at Moscow Mideast conference

22:08

23/06/2009

CAIRO, June 23 (RIA Novosti) -

All parties, including the new Israeli government, have agreed to attend the Middle East peace conference due to be held in Moscow by the end of 2009, the Russian president said on Tuesday.

"Today we received formal confirmation of attendance from all parties concerned, including the new Israeli government, and I will be pleased to greet the high-ranking representatives from your countries in Moscow," Dmitry Medvedev said in an address to the Arab League.

Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations comprise the Middle East Quartet of intermediaries seeking to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Medvedev said earlier on Tuesday that negotiations on the Middle East issue were complicated and Russia appreciated Egypt's backing for the Moscow conference.

Russia has been seeking to host Middle East peace talks for more than a year, but despite repeated statements of support from the Quartet nothing has developed.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in May 2008 that Russia was ready to host a conference last summer, but added that Israel had doubts about how quickly such a gathering should be convened.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority launched after a peace conference hosted by then U.S. President George Bush in November 2007 made little progress and were comprehensively ended by an Israeli offensive on Gaza in December that left 1,300 Palestinians dead and 5,000 injured.

The Hamas and Fatah movements, the largest political organizations in Palestine, split in June 2007 when Hamas took control of the Gaza Strip and pushed the Fatah movement out of the enclave of 1.5 million. Hamas has since remained in power in Gaza, independent of the officially recognized government of Fatah in the West Bank, which is headed by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

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