SPAIN ROAD MAP STALLED

Tuesday, October 24, 2006 · Last updated 12:04 p.m. PT Spain says Mideast 'road map stalledBy PAUL HAVEN ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

MADRID, Spain - A leading European voice on the Middle East said Tuesday that the road map for peace in the long-suffering region had fatally stalled, but Israeli and Palestinian officials were quick to brand his comments as overly pessimistic.Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos told a parliamentary panel in Madrid that Europe has a historic opportunity to take the lead in pushing for a fresh approach to the conflict, and that negotiations should include Syria and take into account the Iranian nuclear dispute.Moratinos said Europe must lead the effort to push both sides back to the table, working in conjunction with the United States.

It is necessary that this diplomatic initiative be led by the European Union, not with small, gradual steps, but with a major initiative that has great scope,said Moratinos.Everyone agrees that sooner or later there will be a peace conference.He hinted it was too late to revive the U.S.-backed blueprint for peace known as the road map.I don't think the road map is the best path to get out of the stagnation. I don't think it is in condition now to resurrect the Middle East peace process, nor do I think small confidence-building measures can work,said Moratinos, a one-time EU envoy to the Middle East with wide connections in the region.

Those comments succeeded in bringing Israeli and Palestinian officials together on at least one thing: Both sides rejected his take on the conflict and leapt to the defense of the Washington-backed peace blueprint, saying it still offered the best way forward.

I don't think we can term anything dead or alive. The road map is there, but if Miguel Moratinos will call for a mechanism to implement it, we will appreciate this, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, a confidant of moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, told The Associated Press. We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we just need there to be a mechanism to implement it.

There will not be a solution without the road map.Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev agreed.The way forward is through the road map which is the international community's consensus document on how to move forward in the Middle East peace process, he said, blaming the Palestinian side for not embracing the plan.In Washington, the State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the idea has been bouncing around. The U.S. focus right
now, he said, is working with Abbas to build up security forces and with the Israeli government to keep open more crossings.

It would also help reassure the Israeli government regarding attacks on its territory emanating from Gaza, McCormack said.But most important, he said, is the Palestinian government must overcome its failure to meet the criteria for peacemaking set by the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.He referred to demands Hamas renounce violence and accept Israel's right to exist. That's a condition for any sort of engagement with the international community,the U.S. official said.Britain's Foreign Office said London still believes the road map is the best way forward.

The road map, launched in 2003, envisioned a Palestinian state alongside Israel but stalled almost from the outset because neither side met the initial commitments. Relations between the Israelis and Palestinians soured further following the election of a Hamas-led Palestinian government earlier this year. Hamas has refused to rescind its call for Israel's destruction.Moratinos has long offered to have Spain play a role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, but has had little response from either side in recent years.Spain hosted a landmark Middle East peace conference in 1991, bringing together Israel and many of its Arab enemies for the first time. Those talks helped lay the foundation for the Oslo peace process, which resulted in the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.

The Spanish diplomat said that any talks should also involve Syria a longtime foe of Washington and that Iran's nuclear program would also need to be addressed at such a conference.The presence of Iran means new talks would have to be much more sophisticated than in the past, Moratinos said. He did not specify whether he felt Iran should be directly involved in the talks.Moratinos has long offered to have Spain play a role in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, but has had little response from either side in recent years.Spain hosted a landmark Middle East peace conference in 1991, bringing together Israel and many of its Arab enemies for the first time. Those talks helped lay the foundation for the Oslo peace process, which resulted in the establishment of the Palestinian Authority.

Moratinos said Middle East peace will top the agenda at a meeting Friday and Saturday in the Spanish resort city of Alicante that will bring together foreign ministers from southern European and African countries bordering the Mediterranean.EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana will visit Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Lebanon, and meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas next week. Solana is to assess efforts in trying to revive the peace process.