Iran, Palestinians dominate Davos debates on Middle East (Roundup)

Jan 29, 2009, 21:16 GMT

Davos, Switzerland - In discussions over Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinians, Iran's name kept popping up Thursday at the World Economic Forum, with its own officials saying the Islamic Republic was trying to play a positive role in the region.

At the same time, participants at the Davos sessions on the Middle East said peace between Israel and the Palestinians would have benefits that would reach across the region, while the United Nations asked for 613 million dollars to help the residents of the Gaza Strip.

Whether regarding its beleaguered neighbors, the situation in Gaza or its nuclear programmes, Iran's foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki said his country sought regional stability.

'Our own stability is seen in connection to stability of the people of the region,' Mottaki said.

He was confronted by both French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, on the chance of Tehran agreeing to recognize Israel as part of a process to create a Palestinian state, and by the UN's nuclear watchdog.

'Iran needs to work with the agency,' said Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 'to clarify questions about past and present programmes. They need to give us access.'

ElBaradei said the political aspect of Iran's ambitions needed to be worked out through dialogue with the West. Kouchner insisted it was Tehran who was the obstacle and that he was 'frightened' by the prospect of it becoming a nuclear military power.

Abdel al-Jabar, a Palestinian businessman who is a head of the Paltel telecommunications group, said that Israeli policies in the Palestinian territories, including hundreds of checkpoints and settlements, were obstructing hopes of reaching a peace deal.

He called on Iran, however, to make its own position clear, asking Mottaki to accept an Arab peace initiative launched in 2002, but the foreign minister would not commit.

Iran and Israel have not had diplomatic ties since the Islamic revolution in 1979.

Israel was asked to accept the initiative, which calls for normalized Arab-Israeli relations in return for the creation of a Palestinian state and a solution to the refugee problem.

The Arabs need 'a formal reply on acceptance of the Arab Initiative, which calls on Arabs to turn a page in the conflict, to recognize Israel, normalize with Israel and have Israel as part of family of nations in Middle East,' said Arab League leader Amer Moussa on a panel with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

'We need to have political settlement, a fair one, in the year 2009,' added Moussa.

Turkish premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan attacked Israel over its recent three-week offensive in Gaza, which killed over 1,300 people, and compared the enclave to an 'open air prison, completely isolated from rest of world,' but he said his country would continue to mediate between the Jewish state and its neighbours.

Erdogan, stormed out of the forum, saying he would never return, following a debate on the Gaza Strip during which he complained he was not given enough time to speak.

He had become agitated with Israeli President Shimon Peres during the heated debate, during which the Turkish leader accused Israel of 'knowing very well how to kill babies.'

Israel's Peres defended his country's action saying the goal of the military operation was to stop rocket fire from the enclave.

'The minute they stop shooting rockets there will be a ceasefire,' he said about the fragile situation in the Gaza Strip, adding in a loud voice 'all my life, I am fighting for peace.'

He also blamed Tehran, saying the obstacle to peace was 'Iran's ambition to govern the Middle East.'

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on the international community Thursday to provide quick assistance for the 1.5 million people in conflict-torn Gaza Strip, asking for 613 million dollars.

'Everywhere I went I saw evidence for critical humanitarian needs,' Ban said in reporting on his recent fact-finding visit to the Gaza Strip after the intense three-week Israeli air strikes.

The UN chief said the entire international community, including Israel, should participate in the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip.

Ban, Erdogan, Kouchner, Moussa and others called for the opening of the borders to the Gaza Strip and ending the blockade on the territory.