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The Palestinians are ready to yield parts of the West Bank to Israel, if compensated with an equal amount of Israeli territory, the lead Palestinian negotiator said Wednesday, spelling out his positions in an interview with The AP. Ahmed Qureia, a 71-year-old former prime minister, said saying the US-hosted Middle East conference in Annapolis, Maryland, tentatively set for November 26, is a "very, very, very important opportunity." If it fails, he said, Israelis and Palestinians will perhaps suffer more than in the blood-soaked years following the unsuccessful Camp David summit in 2000.Israelis and Palestinians are slowly rebuilding trust, making compromise possible, Qureia said, sitting in his modest office in Abu Dis, a West Bank suburb of Jerusalem.Today Qureia heads a four-member Palestinian team that first met earlier this week with Olmert's top aides. Ahead of the November conference, the two sides are trying to write a joint declaration of principles on the so-called core issues of the conflict - borders, Jerusalem, Israeli settlements and Palestinian refugees.The disputes have defied solution, but Qureia believes there could be enough common ground to come up with a general sentence or two on how to approach each issue to guide negotiators in the future.For example, the Palestinians want the pre-1967 borders to be the basis of border talks.In a joint declaration, Qureia said, it would be enough to declare the 1967 lines as the starting point, say the border is open to modifications, based on the principle that the Palestinians end up with as much land as they lost in 1967. The exact border would be worked out in negotiations following the Annapolis conference. Part of the deal would likely be a land corridor linking the West Bank and Gaza, separated by 40 kilometers of Israeli territory, but other swap proposals have not been raised.Earlier Wednesday, Qureia's boss, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told Palestine TV in an interview that the size of territory the Palestinians want to get back is 6,205 square kilometers.Asked whether he thought he could get such a commitment from his Israeli counterparts, Qureia said: "Why not? We are still at the beginning. I know that the spirit atmosphere is good, from what Abu Mazen [Abbas] told us about his meetings with Olmert. I think it is okay."Qureia suggested that on one of the hardest issues, Jerusalem, a declaration would suffice that east Jerusalem will be the capital of Palestine and west Jerusalem the capital of Israel. The sticky details, of who would control key holy shrines and where the line of division would run, could be dealt with later.If the two sides can come together on the key issues, Annapolis will be a success, Qureia said.On Tuesday, Qureia issued a harsh condemnation of Israel after getting word that Israel is moving ahead with a road project the Palestinians fear is intended to tighten Israeli control over strategic West Bank areas near Jerusalem.If Israel goes ahead with another plan, to drive the separation barrier from Jerusalem deep into the West Bank, "there will be no peace, absolutely not," he said.US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is returning to the region next week to check up on the negotiators. Her progress report will determine whether moderate Arab states, including regional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, agree to attend the conference. Arab involvement is seen as key, after Camp David failed, in part, because the Palestinians felt they had little Arab support.The Palestinians have long called for greater US involvement, and Qureia suggested they might see it now. "It is the responsibility of the American administration now, after they launched this great initiative, to prepare for the success of this initiative," he said.
As in the days of Noah...
