"We have never been as close to the possibility of reaching an accord as we are today," Ehud Olmert said following the meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas in the presence of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The State leaders convene in Paris to launch Mediterranean Union ...
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Abducted Frenchman in Afghanistan released ... Israeli prime minister also said on Sunday that he hoped direct contacts with Syria could start soon. The two men are among the 43 foreign leaders gathered in the French capital for the launch of a new Union for the Mediterranean. Some have never sat round the same table before.
UN secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa are also attending.
At a pre-summit meeting of foreign ministers, France urged the members to tackle 21st challenges from immigration to energy security. French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said it was time the region put years of strife behind it and forge new ties with European Union states.
Diplomatic coup for Sarkozy Bildunterschrift: Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Sarkozy shakes on the deal with Syrian President Assad. On Saturday, July 10, the French president booked his first success when Syria and Lebanon agreed to normalize their often fraught relations. The two countries agreed to set up diplomatic representations in each other's countries.
"We can say that Lebanon has moved from being a zone of turbulence, a war zone, to a more pacified zone where the Lebanese, and only the Lebanese, have the right to determine their own future," Syrian president Bashar al-Assad after the meeting with the new Lebanese president Michel Suleimann. Syria has long been accused by the international community of interfering in Lebanese politics.
Assad's presence in Paris marks his comeback from diplomatic isolation, following the assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq Hariri in 2005.
But despite this diplomatic coup, observers have warned that the summit on Sunday, July 13, could be richer in symbolism than substance. A series of practical organizational details remain to be resolved, such as the location and the powers of the Union's secretariat.
And not all Mediterranean countries are attending. Libya's Muammar Gadhafi -- a vocal critic of the project -- has refused to go and Jordan's King Abdullah, who cited personal reasons for not going, is also not present. Morocco pulled out after its rival Algeria said it would go.
The Union -- the brainchild of the French president -- chiefly aims to work on a series of practical projects such as tackling pollution problems in the Mediterranean sea, improving infrastructure and launching a solar energy scheme. But Sarkozy also regards it as a tool for advancing diplomatic relations.
(Deutsche Welle)
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