SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: BUSH'S CALL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL

UNCLAS ABU DHABI 001234 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/ARP; NEA/PPD; NEA/RA; INR/R/MR; PA; INR/NESA; INR/B; RRU-NEA IIP/G/NEA-SA WHITE HOUSE FOR PRESS OFFICE; NSC SECDEF FOR OASD/PA USCINCCENT FOR POLAD LONDON FOR ERELI E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: OIIP KMDR TC SUBJECT: SPECIAL MEDIA REACTION: BUSH'S CALL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL PEACE CONFERENCE ¶1. SUMMARY: While the editorial in "Al-Bayan" lauded Khalifa's welcoming statements on Bush's call for a peace conference, the editorial in "Al-Khaleej" considers the conference useless if its agenda is unclear and is not based on UN resolutions. End Summary. ¶2. Under the headline "The Key Solution", the editorial in Dubai-based Arabic daily "Al-Bayan" (circulation 85,000) 07/22 reads: "The key solution to Middle East problems is a fair and comprehensive settlement for the Palestinian issue. UAE President Sheikh Khalifa...... stresses the importance of President Bush's call for an international peace conference and... also calls upon participants to make the conference a success by reaching a fair and permanent solution that stabilizes the region and ends the suffering of the Palestinian people and the Israeli occupation, on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative." ¶3. Under the headline "A Meeting with No Agenda", the editorial in the Sharjah-based Arabic daily "Al-Khaleej" (circulation 90,000) 07/22 reads: "The peace conference will be useless unless it has a clear agenda...... including implementing UN resolutions. The conference should also be based on the 1991 Madrid conference and on the "land for peace" basis.... If the agenda is not clear, then this conference is merely a White House public relations campaign to make the Arabs believe that the White House is serious about solving their main problem." SISON