RAMALLAH, June 2, 2011 (WAFA) - French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe Thursday expressed hope that a new French plan to revive the peace process before September would be accepted by both Palestinians and Israelis.
He said that Paris plans to hold an international peace conference in late June or early July to revive the peace process if the protagonists accept the French plan.
Juppe, speaking at a press conference in Ramallah after meeting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, said that the French plan is based on US President Barack Obama’s proposal of resuming Palestinian-Israeli negotiations on the bases of the 1967 borders with agreed land swap.
The French official had presented the plan to President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday in Rome.
Juppe said that in addition to basing the negotiations on the 1967 borders with land swap, it also calls for security for Israel and Palestine, and that the issues of Jerusalem and refugees would be resolved within one year.
Fayyad said that a proposed economic conference planned in Paris for later this month could be expanded to also include political issues, which has been a Palestinian demand.
The Paris economic conference, which is “a Palestinian interest,” said Fayyad, “can also have very clear political dimensions that should lead to an end to occupation.”
France has called for a conference to be held in Paris to discuss aid to the Palestinian Authority for its 2011-2013 development plan. The Paris II economic conference, as it has been called, may be expanded to become an international peace conference if the French plan gets accepted.
Juppe said he would discuss his plan with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when he meets him later Thursday in Jerusalem.
He said he expects both sides to give answers to the French plan within days, not six months, because “we are convinced that if nothing happens between now and September, the situation will be difficult for everyone.”
The Palestinian Authority is going to ask the United Nations in September to recognize its 1967 borders and accept it as a full member.
Juppe said the French position regarding this issue is that “if nothing happens between now and September, France would act according to its responsibilities,” adding that “all options are open.”
Juppe welcomed the Palestinian reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas, describing it as “good news.”
He said, however, that it should be agreed that what this would lead to is two states for two people.
M.A.
