McClatchy DC Logo

Long-awaited peace conference set for Nov. 27 | McClatchy Washington Bureau

×
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Contact Us
    • Newsletters
    • Subscriber Services

    • All White House
    • Russia
    • All Congress
    • Budget
    • All Justice
    • Supreme Court
    • DOJ
    • Criminal Justice
    • All Elections
    • Campaigns
    • Midterms
    • The Influencer Series
    • All Policy
    • National Security
    • Guantanamo
    • Environment
    • Climate
    • Energy
    • Water Rights
    • Guns
    • Poverty
    • Health Care
    • Immigration
    • Trade
    • Civil Rights
    • Agriculture
    • Technology
    • Cybersecurity
    • All Nation & World
    • National
    • Regional
    • The East
    • The West
    • The Midwest
    • The South
    • World
    • Diplomacy
    • Latin America
    • Investigations
  • Podcasts
    • All Opinion
    • Political Cartoons

  • Our Newsrooms

Politics & Government

Long-awaited peace conference set for Nov. 27

Warren P. Strobel - McClatchy Newspapers

    ORDER REPRINT →

November 19, 2007 06:25 PM

WASHINGTON — The U.S. State Department will announce on Tuesday that it will host an international meeting on Middle East peace at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., on Nov. 27, with roughly 40 countries and entities expected to attend, U.S. officials said Monday.

The long-awaited announcement will clarify in part the details of a conclave whose purposes and goals have been unclear, despite weeks of preparations. The meeting was intended to restart negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians, which have been dormant for most of President Bush's tenure.

But with only a week to go before the conference opens, fundamental questions remain. They include details of a proposed joint declaration that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas have yet to agree on.

Olmert and Abbas met again Monday to negotiate the joint declaration, but made little progress, according to reports from Jerusalem. Both men, however, are under pressure from more hard-line factions, and neither is in a strong position to offer compromises on key issues such as the future of Jerusalem, Israel's borders or the fate of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

SIGN UP

Nevertheless, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said he was confident that a document would be ready in time for the Annapolis meeting.

Also undecided is the level at which Arab countries that don't have relations with Israel will participate. The meeting is supposed to take place at the level of foreign minister, and if Arab states such as Saudi Arabia opt to send lower-level envoys, such as their ambassador in Washington, it would be a major snub to the White House and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

However, Bush's standing in the Arab world is low, and with oil prices at record highs, America's leverage over nations such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait is limited.

Foreign ministers of the Arab League are due to meet Thursday and Friday to decide who to send and what position to take.

"I'm fully confident that when the formal invitations are issued that we will receive a positive response and that the foreign ministers or whomever countries decide to designate as their representative will" attend, McCormack said.

Roughly 40 nations and international entities will be invited to the meeting, including members of the G-8 group of industrialized economies, and the diplomatic "Quartet," which includes Russia, the European Union and the United Nations, as well as the United States.

Follow-up meetings are planned in Washington the next day, the officials said.

(Hannah Allam in Cairo contributed to this report.)

  Comments  

Videos

Some Republicans were against executive power on immigration. Now they aren’t.

Trump announces national emergency to get border wall funding

View More Video

Trending Stories

Vice President Mike Pence will go to Colombia to demand Maduro step down

February 21, 2019 10:07 AM

Fatalities from police chases climbing, could be higher than records indicate

February 21, 2019 12:00 AM

Mitch McConnell pitches Kentucky’s Kelly Craft as Trump’s UN ambassador

February 21, 2019 11:50 AM

Massive public lands bill expected to receive easy approval in the House

February 20, 2019 12:54 PM

‘You’re my guy’: Top Senate Dem urges Jaime Harrison to challenge Lindsey Graham

February 20, 2019 12:12 PM

Read Next

NC state board votes for new election in 9th district after Harris calls for new race
Video media Created with Sketch.

Midterms

NC state board votes for new election in 9th district after Harris calls for new race

By Brian Murphy,

Jim Morrill, and

Ely Portillo

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 21, 2019 02:31 PM

Republican Mark Harris called for a new election in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District, giving up on certification as winner in a race marked by voting irregularities in Bladen and Robeson counties.

KEEP READING

MORE POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Judge bans Roger Stone from speaking about his prosecution in ongoing Mueller case

Politics & Government

Judge bans Roger Stone from speaking about his prosecution in ongoing Mueller case

February 21, 2019 04:30 PM
‘Wide open race’ and open wallets in Kansas after Pompeo rules out 2020 Senate run

Congress

‘Wide open race’ and open wallets in Kansas after Pompeo rules out 2020 Senate run

February 21, 2019 05:00 PM
Mitch McConnell pitches Kentucky’s Kelly Craft as Trump’s UN ambassador

Congress

Mitch McConnell pitches Kentucky’s Kelly Craft as Trump’s UN ambassador

February 21, 2019 11:50 AM

White House

Vice President Mike Pence will go to Colombia to demand Maduro step down

February 21, 2019 10:07 AM
Texas think tank adds former Indiana Congressman to D.C. policy shop

Congress

Texas think tank adds former Indiana Congressman to D.C. policy shop

February 20, 2019 07:00 AM
Trump’s emergency could divert millions from military projects in Missouri, Dems say

Congress

Trump’s emergency could divert millions from military projects in Missouri, Dems say

February 20, 2019 02:13 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Icon for mobile apps

McClatchy Washington Bureau App

View Newsletters

Subscriptions
  • Newsletters
Learn More
  • Customer Service
  • Securely Share News Tips
  • Contact Us
Advertising
  • Advertise With Us
Copyright
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story