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Obama Sees ‘Positive Steps’ in Mideast

Published by on August 18, 2009

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said Tuesday that he saw “movement in the right direction” on the crucial question of Israeli settlement construction in Palestinian areas, after Israeli officials described an apparent de facto slowdown there. Speaking following an Oval Office meeting with President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, Mr. Obama said that a climate had developed for “positive steps” in the region. “We had an extensive conversation about how we could help to jump-start an effective process on all sides,” he said.Mr. Obama welcomed the 81-year-old Egyptian president for his first White House visit in five years, continuing a concerted effort to improve bilateral relations that had been damaged not only by the Iraq war but also by Bush administration criticism of Egypt over matters of democracy and human rights. Mr. Mubarak responded with warmth. He said that the American president had “removed all doubts about the United States in the Muslim world,” referring to what he called Mr. Obama’s “great, fantastic” speech delivered in Cairo in June. “We are moving in the right direction” on restarting peace talks, Mr. Mubarak said. The two-day visit by Mr. Mubarak, who has been in power for nearly 28 years, came amid mounting speculation over an eventual succession in Egypt, fueled both by his age and a recent government crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group that is legally banned but is tolerated and has a presence in Parliament. Mr. Obama’s comments on Israeli settlements followed news reports from Jerusalem that Israel had begun a de facto slowdown on authorizing new construction in the settlements, potentially a move that would placate moderate Arab countries like Egypt whose support for the peace process is crucial.Hours before the Obama-Mubarak meeting, the Israeli housing minister, Ariel Atias, said in Jerusalem that his government had not given final approval for any new housing projects in the West Bank since it took office in late March. His remarks indicated that the Israelis may be trying to lower tensions with the United States over the settlements issue. But he and other officials made clear that the hiatus in issuing government bid invitations for new projects was not a formal freeze.Indeed, the prime minister’s office denied in a statement earlier reports of an agreement among Israeli ministers to freeze on settlement construction until early 2010. “There is not, and never was, an agreement,” it said.Some building is continuing in the settlements, with up to 2,500 housing units already under construction in projects that have already been approved.Still, the timing of the news from Jerusalem seemed less than coincidental — designed, apparently, to add to pressure on Cairo to take steps of its own.Meanwhile, Mr. Mubarak’s visit came during the congressional recess, meaning the Egyptian leader was spared the sometimes painful lectures on democracy and human rights that some lawmakers are inclined to deliver.The Obama administration has been pressing moderate Arab states to take confidence-building measures to encourage Israel to halt settlement construction, steps like granting overflight rights to Israeli civilian aircraft, increasing cultural cooperation and allowing Israel to open interest sections in foreign embassies abroad.Egyptian spokesmen had said earlier that Mr. Mubarak was expected to lay out the Arab perspective: that confidence can be built, above all, if Israel freezes settlements; but also that it should improve living conditions in the West Bank, ease pressures on Gaza and consent to negotiate with all issues on the table, including the final status of Jerusalem.The Obama administration has demanded that Israel freeze all settlement construction. The conservative-leaning government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has balked at the demand, resulting in an unusually public dispute between Israel and its American ally. But Mr. Obama said Tuesday that he had already seen some signs of progress, like the removal of some security checkpoints in the West Bank — a matter of considerable irritation to the Palestinians.“The security forces of the Palestinian Authority have greatly improved and have been able to deal with the security situation on the West Bank in a way that has inspired not just confidence among the Israeli people but also among the Palestinian people,” he said. “There’s been some increased economic activity on the West Bank. All of this is creating a climate in which it’s possible for us to see some positive steps.”Citing agreements reached between Israel and the Bush administration, the Netanyahu government is trying to negotiate new understandings that would allow it to continue some limited construction in existing Jewish settlements. Mr. Netanyahu faces heavy political opposition from his Likud Party and its hawkish partners not to allow a freeze. Mr. Netanyahu is expected to continue those deliberations with George J. Mitchell, the Obama administration’s special envoy to the region, next week in London. In Moscow, President Dmitri A. Medvedev held talks Tuesday with his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, on Middle East peace and on the Iranian nuclear standoff, The Associated Press reported. Russia has said it wants to host an international conference to promote the peace process. Presidents Mubarak and Obama had met twice before: in June when Mr. Obama traveled to Cairo to deliver his speech, and at the Group of Eight gathering in Italy in July. Mr. Mubarak’s warm comments after the meeting Tuesday clearly marked an ending to years of cool relations. “The personal chemistry between President George W. Bush and President Mubarak was very bad,” Steven Cook, a Middle East expert writing a book on relations between Egypt and the United States, told Reuters. “So, I think there is an effort to put that well in the past.”

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Obama Sees ‘Positive Steps’ in Mideast

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