Moledet
07-01-2005, 05:47 PM
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair who holds the G8 presidency, a group of the world's major industrialized nations, is seeking an initiative to inject new impetus into Middle East peacemaking.
Previous British initiatives have had little success and Blair was cautious on the latest.
"I hope but I can't yet be sure that there will be a specific initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian issue," Blair told a news conference.
"I've set aside time within the summit now to do this because there have been developments over the past few days that lead me to believe we may be able to make some progress," he said.
The G8 summit will take place a month before Israel is due to evacuate all of its settlements in the Gaza Strip, also home to 1.3 million Palestinians.
After a week of turmoil in which pro-settler radicals clashed with troops and blocked roads, fears are mounting that the pullout will be overshadowed by violence.
Officials said G8 leaders would discuss a plan by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, now an international envoy for the disengagement. Charged with reviving the Palestinian economy after the pullout, Wolfensohn is seeking support for Palestinian aid packages.
Is that British humor?
Most of the responses by Israelis were, "ahhh leave us alone already".
LONDON - British Prime Minister Tony Blair who holds the G8 presidency, a group of the world's major industrialized nations, is seeking an initiative to inject new impetus into Middle East peacemaking.
Previous British initiatives have had little success and Blair was cautious on the latest.
"I hope but I can't yet be sure that there will be a specific initiative on the Israeli-Palestinian issue," Blair told a news conference.
"I've set aside time within the summit now to do this because there have been developments over the past few days that lead me to believe we may be able to make some progress," he said.
The G8 summit will take place a month before Israel is due to evacuate all of its settlements in the Gaza Strip, also home to 1.3 million Palestinians.
After a week of turmoil in which pro-settler radicals clashed with troops and blocked roads, fears are mounting that the pullout will be overshadowed by violence.
Officials said G8 leaders would discuss a plan by former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, now an international envoy for the disengagement. Charged with reviving the Palestinian economy after the pullout, Wolfensohn is seeking support for Palestinian aid packages.
Is that British humor?
Most of the responses by Israelis were, "ahhh leave us alone already".