Arab, World Leaders Warn Bush On ‘Roadmap’

Earlier Friday, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said Friday that the Middle East roadmap must be followed and decisions should not be made "over the head of Palestinians."

Within the same context, Russia called on Israel Friday not to stop at withdrawing from Gaza, but to follow that step up by implementing the roadmap for peace in the Middle East.

And the European Union insisted Friday the "roadmap" to Middle East peace had not been driven into a dead end after the dramatic U.S. policy reversal that has enraged Palestinian opinion and threatened again to strain transatlantic ties.

"Convinced of the impact of America’s attitude towards the chances for peace in the region, Saudi Arabia hopes that it reconsiders the situation and does the necessary to prevent a total collapse of the peace process," an official Saudi spokesman told the state news agency SPA.

"No one has the right to make these concessions, in the name of the Palestinian people, concerning our just rights," he added.

American support for Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s plan "threatens to annul" the international "resolutions and accords" so far reached, warned the Saudi spokesman.

Jordan has meanwhile insisted on the Palestinian right of return, which Bush has now explicitly ruled out.

In Amman, Foreign Minister Marwan Moasher stressed Thursday Jordan’s "insistence on the right of return and the need for agreement to settle this issue in conformity with the Arab peace initiative."

Mubarak, Schroeder

Mubarak, speaking to Egyptian editors before leaving Texas, where he met Bush, underlined that "Israeli withdrawal from Gaza should not be linked to any guarantees granted by any party regarding a definitive settlement, especially the issues of border and refugees’ right of return," according to the Egyptian dailies.

Mubarak insisted on an Israeli pullout from land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war, "as is mentioned in U.N. Resolutions 242 and 338, and the right of return stipulated in UN Resolution 193," they added.

The Egyptian leader also insisted on an Arab peace initiative adopted in Beirut in 2002 which offered Israel normal relations in exchange for its withdrawal from all the 1967 territories and a just settlement of the refugee issue.

On a stopover in Hanover after talks in Washington, Mubarak said that questions over future borders and the return of Palestinian refugees must be negotiated with the Palestinian and Israeli sides.

"The abandoning of the roadmap initiative could lead to a worsening of the situation and also to terrorist measures," the veteran Egyptian leader warned, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

At a joint press conference, Schroeder said that "Palestinians have a right to expect that decisions are not made over their heads."

Both leaders, however, greeted Israeli plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, saying it added new impetus to efforts to achieve lasting peace in the Middle East.

But the chancellor warned against rushing prematurely into negotiations on the final status of a Palestinian state which could "create prejudices."

Mubarak flew to Hanover, central Germany, to brief Schroeder over his talks with U.S. President George W. Bush earlier this week.

In Cairo, the Arab League described Bush’s declarations as "very dangerous" and "legally baseless," warning they could "strengthen Israel’s occupation."

In Damascus, the ruling party newspaper Al-Baath, accused Bush of having "slammed the door on the peace process."

Flouting successive United Nations resolutions, Bush said Wednesday it was "unrealistic" to expect Israel to pull out from all land captured in the 1967 war.

He also said Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to return to lands lost to Israel in 1948, when the Jewish state was created.

His comments caused outrage in the Middle East and a cautious response from Europe.

Critics say that Israel’s plans to maintain some settlements in the West Bank, while abandoning the Gaza Strip, is a unilateral effort to define future borders.

The roadmap, drawn up by the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia, envisages a viable Palestinian state with mutually agreed borders in return for Israel’s security.

Russia, E.U.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov Friday called on Israel to follow up its decision to withdraw from the Gaza Strip by implementing the roadmap.

A withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would be "important, positive, but only a first step on the road to a general settlement, including the creation of an independent Palestine, living at peace with Israel," Lavrov told reporters after talks with his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath.

The roadmap "is the only means to resolve the situation in the Middle East. All actions must be aimed at reinforcing the roadmap and this applies to the plan for withdrawal from the Gaza Strip," Lavrov said.

Shaath, for his part, said that "any withdrawal by Israel from occupied territory should be a first step towards a complete withdrawal from all occupied territories, including East Jerusalem."

The European Union’s Irish Presidency Friday, weighed in, reaffirming the EU’s commitment to the roadmap.

EU governments tried to minimize differences among the diplomatic "quartet" sponsoring the peace deal after Bush’s historic change of policy Wednesday.

The political bombshell dropped by Bush risks straining transatlantic ties brought to near breaking point last year by the war in Iraq – another pressing issue being tackled by EU foreign ministers at two-day talks.

The Irish presidency said repeatedly that it welcomed Bush’s "reaffirmation" of elements of the roadmap, which is designed to create a Palestinian state next year living in peace beside Israel.

But European frustration over the outcome of talks Wednesday at the White House between Bush and Sharon was laid bare by Irish Foreign Minister Brian Cowen.

"It remains the case that Israel has to make peace with its enemies, not its friends," Cowen told a news conference before heading into the EU talks in central Ireland.

"Everyone knows that any attempt to solve the conflict unilaterally will not bring lasting peace. Any viable, long-term settlement needs to be both agreed and inclusive," he said.

The 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference also weighed in, announcing it would hold an emergency meeting on April 22.

The diplomatic quartet would itself convene around a week later, EU foreign affairs chief Javier Solana said in Tullamore.

He said the meeting was "already called for around the 28th, probably in Berlin". An EU diplomat said the meeting would involve quartet foreign ministers and U.N. officials.