Annan Backs Nascent Mideast Peace Plan (petition to get Geneva adopted)

[papau]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-3323656,00.html

Annan Backs Nascent Mideast Peace Plan

Wednesday October 29, 2003 3:16 PM By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - A prominent Palestinian moderate and the popular former head of Israel's security service won support from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan for their grass-roots campaign to get Palestinians and Israelis to sign a petition calling for a peace settlement based on two states.

Annan applauded the "courage" of Israeli Adm. Ami Ayalon and Palestinian professor Sari Nusseibeh who launched their petition drive three months ago and said they have collected 160,000 signatures - 100,000 Israelis and 60,000 Palestinians.

"People to people initiatives can play an essential role in generating the momentum needed for peace," Annan's office said Tuesday in a statement after his meeting with the two men, which also praised another peace initiative by Israel's Yossi Beilen and Palestinian Yasser Abed Rabbo.

But Annan stressed that "there is no substitute for the official representatives of the Israeli and Palestinian people returning to the negotiating table and progressing down the road to peace as called for in the Road Map," according to the statement.

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Comment: This is the Clinton -Taba compromize/principles agreed on 12/28/2000 to be the basis of the Taba talks that took place at Taba, Egypt !/22/2001. What was on the table - but not agreed to in total at Taba - but now part of Geneva - is near no right of return with the border being near Green line (plus perhaps 6% - but with perhaps some area added to the Gaza portion to make it plus 3%). Now written up as the Geneva Plan and agreed to at Geneva by unofficial folks from both sides - it tries to obtain peace by being the basis for a petition signature gathering requesting those in political power implement the plan as stated in the "Geneva" writeup with perhaps minor changes.