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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert hosting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in Jerusalem last month. (AP)
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Last update - 12:34 04/10/2007
U.S. policy paper calls for Hamas to be a participant in final status talks
By The Associated Press

Five former U.S. State Department and Pentagon officials are proposing that Hamas be a participant in final status talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

In a six-page policy statement submitted to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, they also suggested a series of peace conferences following the one she hopes to convene next month, probably in Annapolis, Maryland, near Washington.

Hamas, which controls Gaza and about one-third of Palestinian-held land, has not met U.S. terms for attending. Those conditions are recognizing Israel's right to exist and abandoning the path of violence.

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But the ex-officials suggested Hamas might be drawn to attend a second conference, which implicitly would accept the first one and Israel's existence. They called the role of Hamas the most difficult issue in peacemaking.

Rice plans to visit the Middle East next week to prepare for a U.S.-hosted peace conference, as Israel and the Palestinians begin work on a joint outline for a possible settlement.

The position paper also urged the division of Jerusalem, and preventing Palestinian refugees from returning to Israel as part of a Middle East accord.

Jerusalem's future and that of Palestinian refugees have snarled past U.S. peace efforts. Former president Bill Clinton's mediation efforts between then Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and then Prime Minister Ehud Barak envisioned sharing of Jerusalem.

Clinton ruled out requiring Israel to take in most Palestinian refugees.

"It will be very difficult, but not impossible," said Robert Pelletreau, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt and ex-assistant secretary of state for the region.

"There is a little bit of momentum starting to build with talks between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, and with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair as a mediator," he said in a telephone interview.

"Along with announcement of the conference," he said, "you have several things that can reinforce each other if they are framed properly."

"The refugee issue is the most difficult," he said. "And Jerusalem is right up with it."

Edward S. Walker, a former ambassador to Israel and Egypt, said Hamas was the most difficult issue. "Unless Hamas changes its stripes there is no way to deal with them on the current situation," he said in an interview.

But, Walker added, "a lot of things that appear to be impossible now might well become possible if there is hope that a true and real peace can be established."

The policy paper was prepared by Israel Policy Forum, a nonpartisan American group that promotes sustained U.S. diplomacy to end the conflict between Israel and its neighbors.

"Next month's conference should reaffirm that the goal is two independent and sovereign states, with borders roughly along the lines that separated Israel from the Arabs before the 1967 Middle East war," the statement said.

It also called for a just solution to refugee questions that recognizes the suffering and the plight of the Palestinian refugees. They would be permitted to move only to the new Palestinian state, with compensation from Israel, the Palestinian state and other nations.

Besides Pelletreau and Walker, the former U.S. diplomats included Thomas Pickering, an ex-undersecretary of state and ambassador to Israel and Jordan; Samuel Lewis, former ambassador to Israel; and Frederic C. Hof, Mideast official in the Pentagon.

The report was written and coordinated primarily by Steven L. Spiegel, political science professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Rice has been meeting with former U.S. negotiators and ex-American diplomats, and has not replied to the policy paper, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Wednesday.

In a separate message to Rice, 79 senators lined up by the pro-Israel lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said friendly Arab countries should participate in the conference as full partners of the United States.

"The Arab countries should stop support for terrorist groups and cease all anti-Israel and anti-Jewish incitement while pressing Hamas to recognize Israel and to reject terror," AIPAC said.

The senators praised Rice, Israel and the Palestinian government for working hard to advance the cause of peace in the Middle East but said peace "will remain elusive without a sincere commitment from our allies."
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Finally there's a platform for an Arab in an Israeli paper and this is what he writes?
  1.   Jerusalem is an Arabic city 09:24  |  Imad 04/10/07
  2.   parcial 09:31  |  Imad 04/10/07
  3.   Never 10:12  |  Avi 04/10/07
  4.   imad 10:31  |  Axel 04/10/07
  5.   Jews have always been a majority in Jerusalem! 10:50  |  Realist 04/10/07
  6.   Jerusalem 10:55  |  Christian 04/10/07
  7.   Jerusalem - City of David, King of Israel 10:59  |  maccabit 04/10/07
  8.   IMAD IS RIGHT-Its NOT in Koraan but 1000s times in Old Testament 11:00  |  Alan 04/10/07
  9.   #1 Imad - yes you are and whacky too 11:06  |  * BEN JABO 04/10/07
  10.   Jerusalem named over 600 times in Bible 11:07  |  Tom 04/10/07
  11.   I a Partial refugee from West Jerusalem Can Live With That. 11:07  |  Bandar Michaels 04/10/07
  12.   #2 Imad - Yes you are and whacky too 11:08  |  * BEN JABO 04/10/07
  13.   ISRAEL IS THE KEY, NOT HAMAS 11:18  |  indrajaya 04/10/07
  14.   with borders roughly along the lines... 11:21  |  Jens 04/10/07
  15.   Hamas the most difficult issue in peacemaking? 11:23  |  Jens 04/10/07
  16.   Arabs and Jews should be sent to the moon 11:25  |  me 04/10/07
  17.   US foreign policy...50 years of failure 11:33  |  Frank 04/10/07
  18.   Jerusalem in year Zero - to #1 Imad 11:36  |  Robin 04/10/07
  19.   Jens, when were you last in the West Bank? 12:03  |  Tom 04/10/07
  20.   ONE STATE SOLUTION IS ONLY SOLUTION: LET COUSINS LEAVE TOGETHER 12:15  |  Arthur 04/10/07
  21.   No biblical role for Israel or Jerusalem a boon to peace! 12:15  |  Ivar 04/10/07
  22.   Without Hamas there will be no solution and with Hamas,the cabal& 12:15  |  lakshmi 04/10/07
  23.   Damage that can`t be undone 12:18  |  Avi 04/10/07
  24.   Robin 12:22  |  Imad 04/10/07
  25.   #14 Jens 12:36  |  * BEN JABO 04/10/07
  26.   I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you 12:39  |  Al Mathes 04/10/07
  27.   SAUDI FUNDING OF AMERICAN PROFESSORS 12:48  |  Menachem Ben Yakov 04/10/07
  28.   # 13 Indy 12:51  |  Lynn 04/10/07
  29.   Robin of Israel 12:56  |  Lynn 04/10/07
  30.   #1 is a perfect reminder of what the Israel is up against 12:57  |  Avi 04/10/07
  31.   This is just the US ploy 12:59  |  Rowan Berkeley 04/10/07
  32.   Ignoring Hamas will be a big mistake 13:08  |  Eric 04/10/07
  33.   Hamas should be drawn into a more constructive role: 13:17  |  Uzi 04/10/07
  34.   #21 14:00  |  Christian 04/10/07
  35.   Pelletreau, Walker, Pickering, Lewis & Hof Demolitions Inc. 14:04  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/10/07
  36.   For smart Uzi, # 33 14:11  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/10/07
  37.   This is so Hamas can refuse peace and so it goes. 14:23  |  The Equalizer 04/10/07
  38.   before 1967 to#14 Jens 14:28  |  Robin 04/10/07
  39.   #32 is right - we can not ignore our ennemy! 14:40  |  Robin 04/10/07
  40.   include Hamas? I don`t think so 14:53  |  Earthling 04/10/07
  41.   #1 delusional 15:03  |  Israeli 04/10/07
  42.   Ignorant Imam, Aramaic was spoken by Jews 15:07  |  Israeli 04/10/07
  43.   Of course Rowan Berkeley, it`s just a Jewish trick 15:09  |  Israeli 04/10/07
  44.   Robin you`re very logical and sincere 15:11  |  Israeli 04/10/07
  45.   #22 Lakshmuck`s Tirade 15:15  |  Bill Foonman 04/10/07
  46.   # 22 lakshmi 15:29  |  Lynn 04/10/07
  47.   # 32 Eric of Paris 15:34  |  Lynn 04/10/07
  48.   Imad #1 What a Crap! 15:35  |  Brod 04/10/07
  49.   Rice and the Have-Beens 15:43  |  Brod 04/10/07
  50.   I say again: ignoring Hamas is a big mistake 15:48  |  Eric 04/10/07
  51.   The cyclic behaviour pattern of the Arabs of Western Palestine: 15:57  |  Uzi 04/10/07
  52.   To Fortuna Benmayor 16:08  |  Yulia 04/10/07
  53.   Eric #43 16:13  |  Brod 04/10/07
  54.   Eric / 48 16:19  |  Anne 04/10/07
  55.   #22 laksmhi 16:35  |  who cares 04/10/07
  56.   # 21 Well, Ivo, we need to know your take on fascist Estonia? 16:39  |  Misha 04/10/07
  57.   Stupid Idea 16:45  |  Edward H 04/10/07
  58.   # 22 Lapsh, the untouchable, can you become... 16:45  |  Misha 04/10/07
  59.   Neville Chamberlain`s TRUE believers 16:49  |  RayS 04/10/07
  60.   To Yulia, # 51, seriously and gratefully. 16:53  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/10/07
  61.   Very reasonable to include Hamas, but Bush will not allow 17:12  |  Tosefta 04/10/07
  62.   #50 Eric 17:55  |  Georg Washingthon 04/10/07
  63.   Tom - and when were you last in the West Bank? 19:00  |  Palestinian Brit 04/10/07
  64.   Jerusalem will never be divided again. 19:31  |  Ruth Broch 04/10/07
  65.   #12 BENJABO 19:52  |  Realistic Arab 04/10/07
  66.   I though you were smart, Tosefta, # 61 20:37  |  Fortuna Benmayor 04/10/07
  67.   Jerusalem 20:40  |  Nechama 04/10/07
  68.   Peace? By whose definition? 20:53  |  Nechama 04/10/07
  69.   The public face of the quislings,while abbas puts on his happy 20:55  |  lakshmi 04/10/07
  70.   Ofcourse that HAMAS has to participate! 21:14  |  Man on a tree 04/10/07
  71.   Christian - Thank you for your keen observations 21:16  |  The anti-Christ 04/10/07
  72.   Jerusalem has always been a Semitic city, Arab and Jew 21:21  |  Canninite 04/10/07
  73.   Nechama 21:25  |  You are hilarious! 04/10/07
  74.   Nechama - Old wives tale 21:28  |  Man on a tree 04/10/07
  75.   Uzi - Very true about the arabs...the Persians though 21:30  |  Man on a tree 04/10/07
  76.   Brod - Huh? 21:31  |  Man 04/10/07
  77.   Al Mathes - Circular logic 21:35  |  Man on a rock 04/10/07
  78.   Menachem Ben Yakov - Please reference the report 21:36  |  Menachem Began 04/10/07
  79.   #69Lakshmi You`re irrelevant 21:47  |  who cares 04/10/07