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KUALA LUMPUR & BEIJING (Islam Online & AFP) - Former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres, on a world tour matching the efforts of Yasser Arafat, was able to win Indonesia's support in a rally between himself and the Palestinian leader jockeying for positions regarding the peace process.
After a secretive meeting with Peres, President Abdurrahman Wahid told reporters that Israel should have administrative control over Jerusalem, while political sovereignty should be charged to six neighboring countries, as well as the United States. Wahid added that the Camp David negotiations failed last July because the parties discussed only one form of sovereignty. Wahid further commented that it would be much better if the international community would differentiate between the administrative sovereignty given to Israel and the political one to be assigned to seven countries: Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and the United States, he said. In earlier remarks, Wahid angered Islamic forces in his country when he proposed having official diplomatic ties with Israel in order to help with the peace process. Soliman Abderrhamne, Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman, denied knowing any information regarding the meeting, although he had lunch with Peres that afternoon. The secretive meeting between Wahid and Peres only became known after a correspondent saw Peres and his aides leaving Jakarta for Singapore, the nearest country with an Israeli embassy in the Far East. When asked about the meeting Wahid stated he had breakfast with Peres, but would not disclose any information about their conversation. Wahid added that he would discuss similar issues with Arafat who was due to arrive from China. In the meeting, the first between the two high level officials in the past seven years, Wahid promised to send the Indonesian foreign minister to the Middle East later this month to discuss the peace process. Wahid has had close relations with Peres in the past; the former is on the executive board of the Shimon Peres Center For Peace. Wahid also spoke of normalizing relations with Israel and establishing diplomatic ties between the two countries. Since he has come to power, several meetings have taken place in trade delegations between the two countries, with ongoing talks concerning opening trade bureaus in both countries. President Arafat, scheduled to meet Wahid Wednesday morning, met with the Chinese President and Malaysian Prime Minister, Mahatir Mohamed, before departing for Jakarta. China tells Peres Palestinians have right to independent state China on Wednesday told visiting former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres that the Palestinians had a right to establish their own state, Chinese media reported. That is a right supported by the United Nations and with a basis in agreements already reached between Israel and the Palestinians, Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan told Peres, according to Chinese state television.
"China has consistently supported the Palestinian people's effort to regain its legitimate national rights," Tang said during a meeting at the Chinese foreign ministry. "According to the relevant United Nations resolutions and the agreements reached between Israel and the Palestinians, the Palestinians have a right to establish an independent state," as quoted by Chinese TV. Tang urged the Israeli and Palestinian leaders to continue to engage in talks in order to reach a solution that both parties can accept, the television report said. Peres arrived in Beijing Wednesday to brief Chinese officials on Israel's peace process stance after the breakdown of the Camp David talks last month. "The main objective of (Peres') visit is to inform the Chinese leaders about the peace process in the Middle East," said Amir Sagie, a spokesman of the Israeli embassy in Beijing. Apart from meeting Tang, Peres was also scheduled to hold talks with Zeng Peiyan, the head of the State Development Planning Commission, on Wednesday, and with Vice Premier Qian Qichen on Thursday. Peres' visit follows the visit to China by Arafat on Monday, during which President Jiang Zemin told the Palestinian leader to pick an "appropriate" time to declare an independent state. This appeared to be a clarification of China's attitude in early July, when it said it supported Palestinian statehood, reacting to a decision by the Palestine Liberation Organization's Central Council to declare an independent state on September 13th. "This shows that China wishes to choose a position closer to the one adopted by the West and by Russia," a Western diplomat commented. While pointing out the Palestinian leadership should take care to find the right time for declaring statehood, Jiang on Monday reaffirmed China's support for the Palestinian authorities, which China recognized diplomatically in 1988. The Israeli negotiator Oded Eran, who participated in the Camp David talks, is accompanying Peres during his visit to China. Apart from discussing the Mideast peace process, Peres, who is now Minister of Regional Cooperation, will also offer Israeli assistance in the development of China's backward western regions, especially in talks with Zeng, according to Sagie, the Israeli embassy spokesman. Israel has a head start, since Israeli companies in the agricultural and high-tech sectors are already present in western China, Sagie said. Sino-Israeli relations, which have been improving in recent years, suffered a setback last month, when Israel cancelled a planned sale of an Israeli Airborne Warning and Control System to China. The deal, valued at $250 million, was skipped after pressure from the United States, which feared it would upset the military balance between China and Taiwan. |
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