Abbas and Olmert vow to agree at Annapolis conference

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed during a peace conference held in Annapolis outside Washington on Tuesday (27 November) to work towards a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of next year.

A joint declaration said that intense talks would be needed to reach agreement on "all outstanding issues" and reaffirmed core elements of the 2002 road map for peace.

US President George W. Bush pledged to "monitor and judge the fulfilment of the commitment of both sides", suggesting a much more active US role in the Middle East during his last year in office.

The most contentious issues include the status of Jerusalem, the fate of Jewish settlements and the right to return of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Abbas and Olmert met again on Wednesday (28 November) at the White House in the first of a series of meetings that the two sides vowed to hold every other week.

Abbas’s ability to commit the Palestinians to peace is curtailed by the split between the West Bank, largely controlled by his forces, and the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Islamist Hamas. Hamas, with support from Syria, rejects peace with Israel.

The fact that both Syria and Saudi Arabia, neither of which recognises Israel, attended the Annapolis conference was hailed as a success. Saudi Arabia, which sent its foreign mini-ster, was primarily moti-vated by fear of a resurgent Iran, observers say.

Syria, which was represented by a deputy foreign minister, seeks the return of the strategic Golan heights, which Israel occupied in 1967.

The EU’s foreign policy chief Javier Solana said that the meeting was "a remarkable achievement" but also called for "immediate steps from both sides".

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert agreed during a peace conference held in Annapolis outside Washington on Tuesday (27 November) to work towards a comprehensive peace agreement by the end of next year.