Naharnet Newsdesk - Saniora Rejects Israeli PM Olmert's Call for Direct Peace Talks

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Saniora Rejects Israeli PM Olmert's Call for Direct Peace Talks

Prime Minister Fouad Saniora rejected his Israeli counterpart Ehud Olmert's call Monday for direct peace talks between the two countries.
A statement from Saniora's office said he "had announced more than once that Lebanon would be the last Arab country to sign peace with Israel."

Olmert made his proposal in a speech at the opening of the Israeli parliament's winter session.

He called on Premier Saniora, to enter peace talks, saying the time has passed for indirect mediation between the nations.

"I wish to take advantage of this standing to call from here on the prime minister of Lebanon, Fouad Saniora, to meet me directly, without the use of go-betweens, in order to forge peace between us and Lebanon," Olmert said.

"Real peace should come with Israel's acceptance of an Arab peace initiative proposed by (then) Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah and that was adopted by an Arab summit conference in Beirut" in March 2002, the statement from the Premier's office said.

The 2002 Saudi peace initiative said all Arab countries would recognize Israel and sign a peace deal if it withdrew from land captured during the 1967 Arabi-Israeli war.

It was backed by the Arab League at a summit in Beirut in 2003.

"In this context, it has become clear that, as a first step to prove its desire for peace, Israel should withdraw from occupied Lebanese lands, including the Shabaa Farms and fully apply U.N. Security Resolution 1701," the statement added.

Olmert said that Israel made significant gains in its battle against Hizbullah. Olmert has been heavily criticized for his handling of the war, in which Hizbullah fired thousands of rockets into Israel.

"Hizbullah has ceased to exist as a state within a state in Lebanon," Olmert added.

Israel launched a massive military offensive against Hizbullah on July 12, after the latter seized two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a deadly cross-border raid.

The war ended on August 14 under a U.N.-brokered ceasefire after fighting had killed 1,287 people in Lebanon, mostly civilians, and 162 people in Israel, mostly soldiers.

Under ceasefire Resolution 1701, an expanded U.N. force, working with Lebanese government troops, has moved into southern Lebanon to police the volatile border.

Israel and Lebanon have not had official relations since the establishment of the Jewish state in 1948.(AP-AFP)

Beirut, 16 Oct 06, 17:35


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