President Abbas Meets with the U.S President George Bush Today
The US President George Bush announced yesterday that he entrusted his Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, to lead the diplomatic efforts with the allied Arab states to reform the Palestinian security apparatuses.
'I've instructed Secretary Rice to lead the diplomatic efforts along with regional leaders to help the Palestinians to reform their security apparatuses', Bush said. Rice efforts will aim at helping both Palestinian and Israeli leaders to sit and solve their differences, Bush added.
In his speech before the General Assembly, Bush urged the world to stand up for peace in the Holy Land, stressing 'I'm committed to two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security'.
Bush said he is committed to a Palestinian state that has territorial integrity and will live peacefully with Israel. 'This is the vision set forth in the Road Map, and helping the parties reach this goal is one of the great objectives of my presidency', addressing the UN General Assembly.
President Bush stressed that President Abbas is committed to peace and to his people's aspirations for a state of their own.
Abbas, due to address the General Assembly on Thursday, will meet with the U.S President George Bush on Wednesday; the first meeting since October 2005.
'President Abbas's meeting with Bush today will be very important,' declared Palestinian lawmaker and chief negotiator Saeb Erakat.
President Abbas frozen talks over the unity government with Hamas because of its refusal to accept the Quartet conditions, including past commitments of the PLO, but he is due to resume talks when he returns back from New York.
'The Americans want the conditions posed by the Quartet to be fully respected,' Saeb Erakat told AFP on Tuesday.
Chirac: Solution to Middle East Conflict Requires New Global Strategy
Voicing dismay that the conflict in the Middle East has become 'the epicenter of global instability,' French President Jacques Chirac told world leaders who gathered today for the General Assembly that it was time to 'tread off the beaten track of habit' and devise a global strategy for an Israeli-Palestinian settlement.
'The status quo has become unbearable. Because the conflict in the Middle East is a threat to global peace and security, the world has no option but to be the guarantor of peace,' Mr. Chirac said in a speech to the general debate of the Assembly's 61st session.
He said it was time for leaders to take back the issue from the hands of extremists on both sides and work to restore confidence between Israelis and Palestinians.
President Chirac called on the Quartet - the diplomatic group comprising the UN, the European Union, the United States and the Russian Federation - to meet soon to prepare an international conference on the issue that will 'pave the way for a new future in the Middle East.'
President Chirac outlined the parameters for any solution: two viable States living side by side in security, safe and recognizable borders, and a fair solution for refugees and for Jerusalem.