Christian Message Boards: Sharon, Abbas Stand Together to Make Peace Pledge

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Sharon, Abbas Stand Together to Make Peace Pledge

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Leaders of Israel and the Palestinians addressed their peoples together for the first time, standing side by side in Jerusalem Tuesday to pledge their commitment to peace.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites) said Israelis did not want to rule Palestinians or decide their future, but that peace would not be possible if Palestinian "terror" continued.

He said he was willing to pay a "painful price" for peace.

"I have no doubt that the picture coming out of here today to the people of Israel and the Palestinian people and the entire world is one of hope and of optimism," Sharon said.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas said his people wanted an end to the conflict with Israel, adding that the only way to progress was "through dialogue, discussions and negotiations."

"Our conflict with you is a political conflict and we will end it through political means. We do not have hostility with the Israeli people and we have no interest in continuing the conflict with them," Abbas said.

They spoke just outside the Israeli prime minister's office ahead of private talks. Their remarks were televised internationally.

Although the two men had met before in Jerusalem -- the epicenter of their conflict -- this was their first meeting open to news coverage. Several Israeli and Palestinian cabinet ministers sat and chatted together at a table beside them as the two leaders spoke to reporters.

Like Sharon, Abbas stood at a podium covered with an Israeli government banner decorated with a Jewish candelabra. There were no Israeli or Palestinian flags.

"We are before a new opportunity for the possibility for a better future for both peoples. A future full of opportunities and hope, is today closer than in the past," Sharon read from a statement.

"Our future is together and we hope we will today establish joint committees," Abbas said.

Abbas and Sharon ended their remarks with a long handshake, looking at each other. They took no questions.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (news - web sites), who launched the Oslo peace agreement with Israel in 1993, never met an Israeli leader in Jerusalem. Abbas became the Palestinians' first prime minister this year when the United States, the main Middle East peace broker, said it could not work with Arafat.

Sharon and Abbas held separate talks over the weekend with U.S. national security adviser Condoleezza Rice (news - web sites) on a U.S.-backed peace plan affirmed at a summit in Jordan with President Bush (news - web sites) on June 4.

Israel pulled forces back from much of the Gaza Strip (news - web sites) on Sunday and Monday, restoring general free movement for Palestinians for the first time in two-and-a-half years. The withdrawal was part of a U.S.-mediated disengagement deal meant to advance the road map, which charts the way to a Palestinian state on Israeli-occupied land by 2005.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...s_nm/mideast_dc

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