Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday that he will "take the risks" and make efforts to complete peace negotiations with Palestine in 2008.
"The negotiations between us will not be here in Annapolis, but rather in our home and in yours," Olmert said in his address to the Mideast peace conference in Annapolis, Md., with a special pledge to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
The negotiations will be "bilateral, direct, ongoing and continuous, in an effort to complete during the course of 2008," he said.
They will be based on previous Israeli-Palestinian agreements, U.N. Security Council Resolutions, the Roadmap plan and a letter from U.S. President George W. Bush to the Israeli government, Olmert added.
He envisioned that the agreement will be a fulfillment of Bush's vision-- two states for two peoples.
Olmert also said he is willing to take risks and make painful compromise in the process.
"We want peace," he said.
"We demand the end of terror, incitement and hatred. We are ready for painful concessions," said Olmert.
The prime minister said he did not come to Annapolis to place blame for the conflict, adding that he was aware of that Palestinians too have suffered greatly.
Olmert expressed hopes to resolve the refugee issue, one of the toughest sticking points.
"Israel will be part of an international mechanism to solve this problem," he said.
The prime minister also said that a peace agreement could only be implemented, in "gradual and careful" steps, after the road map is fully carried out.
He also said the agreement with Palestine will lead to peace with all Arab nations and the whole Muslim world.
"We want peace with every Arab state," said Olmert. "And there is no Muslim state with which we do not want peace."
Delegates from nearly 50 countries and international organizations are attending the U.S.-hosted peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland for a whole day Tuesday.
In his opening remarks, Bush said that peace must be pursued because "a battle is underway for the future" of the region "and we must not cede victory to the extremists."
In what Bush called a "strong start" for the meeting attended by about 50 countries and international organizations, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators reached agreement shortly before the conference on a joint statement that lays out a path for future talks.
The statement, concluded after weeks of negotiations, did not address any of the core issues dividing the two sides, but it did call for negotiations to begin on Dec. 12, with an aim of reaching a deal by the end of next year.
Source:Xinhua
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