Palestine asks RI to play key role in peace process
Palestine asks RI to play key role in peace process
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Palestine has asked Indonesia and other major Asian countries to
help boost the peace process in the Middle East territory, which
continues to volatile.
Palestinian Deputy Prime Minister Nabeel Shaath said here on
Saturday that countries like Indonesia, China, Japan, India and
Malaysia could help in ending the prolonged conflict in the
Middle East because of their strong influence and good relations
with countries both in the region and outside it.
"These are the major countries that have direct relations with
the process, Indonesia, Malaysia, India, China and Japan have at
least the interest, and some of them like China, Japan and India
have sent peace envoys to participate in the Middle East peace
process," Shaath told a media conference on the sidelines of the
Asian-African Summit.
Palestine was the only participant not to actually constitute
a state among the 89 countries that attended the two-day summit.
After assuming the presidency last year, Indonesian President
Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said Indonesia, being the world's
largest majority-Muslim nation, had to play a key role in the
Middle East peace process.
Shaath said he had asked President Susilo to appoint a
permanent envoy to deal with the peace process in the Middle
East.
In response to the Palestinian question, Asian and African
leaders attending the summit reconfirmed their full support for
the Palestinian people as shown in their final declaration on the
New Asian-African Strategic Partnership.
"We express our abhorrence that 50 years since the 1955
Bandung Conference, the Palestinian people remain deprived of
their right to independence. We remain steadfast in our support
for the Palestinian people and the creation of a viable and
sovereign Palestinian state, in accordance with relevant United
Nations resolutions," says the declaration, which was signed in
Bandung on Sunday during the ceremonies marking the golden
jubilee of the original Asian-African Conference.
Asian and African countries have persistently demanded
independence for Palestine from Israel's occupation.
Although Israeli-Palestinian violence has dropped off sharply
since Israel Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian
President Mahmoud Abbas declared a truce in early February,
incidents persist.
At a checkpoint near the West Bank town of Nablus on Friday,
Israeli soldiers caught a Palestinian carrying four explosive
devices. At the Hawara junction, also near Nablus, soldiers
caught a Palestinian trying to smuggle small-arms bullets into
Israel hidden in video cassette tapes.
Abbas and Sharon are to meet soon to discuss the overall
security situation, the Gaza pullout, Israeli settlement
activities, and the implementation of recent understandings
between the two sides, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat
said.