Russia to convene Middle East peace conference

Putin, on eve of historic visit to Occupied Territories, says his country aspires to achieve conflict settlement

Thursday, April 28, 2005

CAIRO: Visiting Russian President Vladimir Putin said here Wednesday his country was looking to host an international conference later this year in a bid to advance the Middle East peace process. "We propose the convening of an international conference in Moscow next autumn with the participation of all concerned parties and the quartet," Putin said at a news conference with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

The so-called diplomatic "Quartet," grouping Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations, drafted a Middle East peace plan known as the "road map," which calls for a Palestinian state alongside a secure Israel.

Putin said contacts were ongoing to determine the level of participation and the agenda for the conference.

He said he would to discuss the conference with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon when they met on Thursday. Putin also announced that the Quartet would meet in Moscow on May 8 to review ways to jump-start stalled negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. In Jerusalem, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said "we want to hear directly from him, what his idea is.

"We have accepted the idea of a conference. It's in the road map, in the second stage. However, we are not even in the road map at the moment."

In contrast, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said he welcomed Putin's "call for an international peace conference in Moscow, and I hope it will take place.

Russian influence was of "primary importance in the region," Abbas told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah.

He added that Putin's trip to Ramallah on Friday, the first by a Russian head of state to the Occupied Palestinian Territories, was of "great importance."

The Middle East conflict featured prominently during Putin's discussions earlier with Mubarak.

"We reaffirmed once again our aspiration to achieve a settlement on the Palestinian-Israeli track based on UN resolutions and the road map," said the Russian president.

Mubarak said the two sides had agreed "on the need to maintain the momentum gained after the Sharm el-Sheikh

summit in February and seize the opportunity to move forward the peace process after a four-year hiatus."

In February, Mubarak hosted a summit of Israeli and Palestinian leaders at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh that ended with Sharon and Abbas agreeing to a cease-fire. Mubarak stressed the need for the two sides to "implement the understandings and commitments" they made "in good faith and without stalling.

The Egyptian leader also expressed hope that Israel would support the Palestinian leader "so that he continues in the peace process and implements what has been agreed if we want a lasting peace in the region."

Turning to Iraq, Putin urged Washington to draw up a

withdrawal schedule for foreign troops.

"There must an agreement on a deadline and conditions for a [foreign] troop withdrawal from Iraq," he told the news conference.

Mubarak said he did not "believe that the situation will calm down" in Iraq and urged the United States to "redeploy its troops to deserted areas, away from cities where war conditions are always more difficult."

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said earlier this month that the U.S. had no exit strategy from Iraq and any pullout depended on the readiness of Iraqi forces to ensure security.

Both Putin and Mubarak, whose regimes are under heightened U.S. pressure to undergo liberal changes, said they were against the idea of "imported democracy."

"The principles of democracy cannot be transferred efficiently without taking into account a country's traditions and history," said Putin.

"Democracy cannot be imported" and "can only blossom if a society develops internally."

"Democracy cannot be implanted in other countries in the same way it was in America, though principles remain the same," said Mubarak, whose 24-year tenure is being increasingly criticized by the street.

Under much international and domestic pressure, Mubarak agreed earlier this year to amend the Constitution to allow for Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential elections.

Putin, whose two-day state visit is the first by a Russian head of state in more than 40 years, also discussed reinforcing trade, industry and weapons cooperation with Mubarak.

"Russia and Egypt expressed the desire to broaden mutual cooperation in various fields," said Putin.

Later, Sergei Chemezov, head of the Rosoboronexport arms enterprise, who was accompanying Putin on the trip to Egypt, said Russia was close to a deal to sell an air-defense system to Egypt.

Putin concluded his visit with a sightseeing trip to the famed Giza pyramids, just outside Cairo. He was scheduled to leave the Egyptian capital later Wednesday to travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories. - AFP