Obama’s New Plan For Peace Unveiled By Palestinians
September 9, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
RAMALLAH: A senior Palestinian official unveiled Tuesday some details of a peace plan for a permanent solution to the Israeli-Arab conflict, which was recently drafted by U.S. President Barack Obama, who intends to officially declare it soon.
According to Hassan Khraisha, deputy speaker of the Palestinian parliament, the plan includes the establishment of an independent Palestinian statehood first in the West Bank, and then Gaza Strip will be included, while holy sites in East Jerusalem will be under Arab and Islamic supervision.
Khraisha, who is also an independent lawmaker in the Hamas-dominated parliament, accused some Palestinian figures in the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) of knowing about the plan before and trading it with other Palestinian, Arab and Israeli figures.
Hamas movement, which opposes the plan, seized control of the Gaza Strip by force in June 2007 and routed west-backed President Mahmoud Abbas security forces.
President Obama is determined to present his peace plan which is expected to resume the stalled peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, and help the Palestinians to establish their state by the year 2011.
Khraisha revealed to media that he had managed to get a draft of the new U.S. plan for peace, charging that the draft was being traded among some Arab, Palestinian and Israeli figures.
Khraisha, who declined to say from where he got the draft, said that the U.S. administration had finalized the plan with the assistance of some Jewish figures specialized in the Israeli-Palestinian affairs.
“The plan is based on establishing a Palestinian statehood by the year 2011. It talks about resettling a limited number of Palestinian refugees in the Jordan valley and other areas in the West Bank,” Khraisha said. The “refugees” will be resettled in an area between Nablus and Ramallah.
He also revealed that “the plan calls for establishing an international fund association to help the Palestinian refugees. The plan did not show what would be the fate of the Palestinian refugees living in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other Arab and foreign countries.”
“The new U.S. plan calls for turning the different armed Palestinian factions into political parties which condemn the use of violence against Israel,” said Khraisha.
He also said that one the most significant points in the draft of the plan is “to fully normalize the ties between the Arab states and Israel.”
Khraisha warned that the question of East Jerusalem is one of the most significant questions in the new U.S. plan.
“The plan puts parts of East Jerusalem under the full Israeli sovereignty without any actual Palestinian control on it. But the holy sites will be under Arab and Islamic administration,” said Khraisha.
He also revealed that according to the plan, the Palestinian state starts first in the West Bank, and then it will be followed by the Gaza Strip, which is controlled by Hamas movement.
About the Israeli settlements, the plan talks about keeping big settlements in the West Bank, and to start negotiations on smaller settlements within three months, while keeping the rest of the territory of the West Bank demilitarized with Israeli control of the air.
The plan, according to Khraisha also calls for intensifying the Israeli-Palestinian security coordination in the West Bank, adding that it prevents the PNA from making any foreign military alliances in the region.
On the issue of Palestinian prisoners, the plan includes an Israeli release of a number of prisoners from its jails as soon as a permanent peace agreement is signed between Israel and the PNA. The prisoners’ release would take three years, according to the plan.
Obama’s New Plan For Peace Unveiled By Palestinians was first posted on September 9, 2009 at 11:58 am.
©2009 “News Trends“.
Storm Hit Maxico City Suburb Visited By Ban Ki Moon
September 9, 2009 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
UNITED NATIONS: United Nations chief Ban Ki-moon made an unscheduled visit on Tuesday to a suburb of Mexico City to see the damage from a fierce storm that has caused flooding and killed at least two people.
Ban, who was visiting Mexico for meetings with the country’s President Felipe Calderon, headed to a northern suburb of the Mexican capital to observe the effects of severe flash floods.
“The secretary-general saw firsthand the recent devastation, which included destroyed homes and damaged public works,” a UN statement said, adding Ban “expressed sympathy and solidarity with the survivors.”
“Personally consoling victims and interacting with the newly displaced, the secretary-general offered the UN’s support and assistance at this time of need.”
Ban traveled by helicopter to the suburbs, where heavy rains from what is the most severe storm to hit Mexico this year caused severe flooding.
Local authorities said they had recovered the bodies of two people, a man and a woman, who drowned in the fast-rising waters.
The municipalities of Tlalnepantla and Atizapan were worst affected by the flooding, with water reaching up to five feet in some places, forcing the army to evacuate people from their homes.
Storm Hit Maxico City Suburb Visited By Ban Ki Moon was first posted on September 9, 2009 at 12:01 pm.
©2009 “News Trends“.
