Posted on 11/20/2007 2:18:22 PM PST by Esther Ruth
More than 40 nations invited to Annapolis
White House issues formal invitations to peace conference despite admitting it likely won't result in steadfast results News agencies
The United States issued formal invitations to some 40 nations and organizations on Tuesday ahead of the upcoming Annapolis peace conference. Officials in Jerusalem and Ramallah confirmed Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had received their invites.
The list of confirmed invitees also includes the Arab League and Arab countries such as Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Yemen, Kuwait, Iraq, Libya, Mauritania, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Members of the international diplomatic quartet have also been given invitations. These include the UN, The EU, Russia, and Mideast envoy Tony Blair.
Other countries who may attend the conference are France, Germany, Britain, Canada, Japan, Italy, China, Norway, Turkey, Vatican, Brazil and Australia.
The US State Department confirmed the invitations had been sent out for next week's conference, though no agenda has been set and no schedule has been released for the meetings, which the US hope will kick-start negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said US ambassadors around the world had received a detailed list of instructions for issuing the invitations, which were extended to countries involved in the peace process, Arab nations and organizations such as the United Nations, International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
White House: We recognize there won't be any instant results The White House has said President George W. Bush will attend at least part of the event.
''He'd like to see these two parties come together to talk about the substantial and core issues surrounding the peace process so that we can begin negotiations toward that end,'' White House press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday.
"We recognize that at the Annapolis conference we are not going to have instant results. What you are going to have, however, we hope, is a discussion of the core issues, the substantive issues that can get the Palestinians and the Israelis to a place where they can have negotiations to get to the two-state solution that they say that they both want to get to," she said.
"There's a lot of difficult issues that come with that. There's a lot of history, and there's a lot of tension. But I think that the motivations on all sides have been genuine, and we are hopeful that we have a good conference. And I look forward to giving you more information about the President's participation as soon as I can."
Majority of Palestinians want negotiations A majority of Palestinians want their president to negotiate a peace deal with Israel, but do not believe there will be progress at next week's session, a poll showed.
There has been a slight drop in skepticism about the conference in the past two months, according to the survey by the independent polling company Near East Consulting.
In November, 57% of 1,200 respondents said they did not believe the conference will lead to
progress in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking, compared with 61% in September, according to the poll, which had an error margin of 3 percentage points.
The study noted a 5-point drop in respondents who said they wanted Abbas to attend the conference, the figure now stands at 71% compared to 76% in October.
I hope they are getting “air miles” because that’s the best you can expect out of this Goat F***
Can you say Charlie Foxtrot, boys and girls? I knew you could.
Interesting invite list. There’s Israel on one side and the remainder of the guest list on the other. ...all of them vehemently anti-Israel, of course. Then again Israel’s quite familiar with that scenario.
this is such a waste of time
I propose the name JDAM Conference for the meeting.
“this is such a waste of time”
Not many of such substance will come.
Liberal pundits will blame Bush.
Others will realize most Arabs don’t give a damn ever since Hamas figuratively dropped out of the Arab League and jumped in bed with the Persian shi’ite’s, “the party of Satan”.
Why can’t we hold this meeting on one of our battleships or something?? We use to hold meetings with foreign leaders on battleships.
speaking of that, we have night-time videos of taliban doing just that, under a lonely kandahar moon. Brings “punching doggies” to a new level.
Isaiah 40:15.
One of those little cars full of clowns, in search of a circus.
That kind of attendance pressures folks to agree to something, not necessarily the right thing.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071120/ap_on_re_us/us_mideast_invitees
List of invitees to Mideast peace talks Tue Nov 20, 2:49 PM ET
WASHINGTON - The United States is inviting representatives from more than 40 countries, groups of nations, financial and other institutions and individuals to a Middle East peace conference it will host next week in Annapolis, Md.
ADVERTISEMENT
The main participants, Israel and the Palestinians, received invitations on Tuesday and U.S. embassies in the invited countries and diplomats accredited to the non-sovereign entities were to be notified to request the presence of their host government at the foreign minister or other appropriate level, according to officials familiar with the process.
The following is a partial list of confirmed invitees, according to those officials, who provided it on condition of anonymity ahead of the formal announcement of the conference to be held on Nov. 27 in-between meetings in Washington. Representation for most invitees is not clear.
• The United States, host, to be represented by President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
• Israel, to be represented by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni.
• Palestinians, to be represented by President Mahmoud Abbas and senior officials.
Members of the international diplomatic “quartet” on the Middle East other than the United States:
• The United Nations, to be represented by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
• The European Union, expected to be represented by EU Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana and External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the bloc.
• Russia, expected to be represented by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov
• Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, the quartet special representative to the Palestinians.
Members of the Arab League committee tasked with pursuing a Saudi initiative for a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace deal:
• Arab League, to be represented by Secretary-General Amr Moussa.
• Algeria.
• Bahrain.
• Egypt.
• Jordan.
• Lebanon.
• Morocco.
• Qatar.
• Saudi Arabia.
• Sudan.
• Syria.
• Tunisia.
• Yemen.
Other Arab nations:
• Kuwait.
• Iraq.
• Libya.
• Mauritania.
• Oman.
• United Arab Emirates.
Members of the Group of Eight major industrialized countries not included in above categories:
• France.
• Germany.
• Britain.
• Canada.
• Japan.
• Italy.
Other nations:
• China.
• Norway.
• Turkey.
• Vatican.
• Brazil.
• Australia.
Financial and other institutions:
• International Monetary Fund.
• World Bank.
• Organization of the Islamic Conference.
(This version CORRECTS UPDATES to ADD Israelis, Palestinians receive invitations, SUBS 11th graf, ‘The European ...,’ to correct typo in EU commissioner’s name — Ferrero, sted Ferraro.)
Under the conditions of his release, Bremer must stay away from any local, state, federal or foreign elected officials and any current candidates. He would have to undergo a mental health evaluation and treatment if the state deemed that necessary. Bremer also can't leave Maryland without written permission from the state Parole Commission.Man Who Shot Gov. George Wallace In 1972 Released
Is this like locking a drunk in a wine cellar? Don't go opening the bottles, now!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.