Obama warns US president can’t solve Mideast crisis alone

By Agence France Presse (AFP)

Stephen Collinson Agence France Presse AMMAN: White House hopeful Barack Obama stepped into the maelstrom of the Middle East Tuesday, warning the next US president could not just snap his fingers and make peace, as fresh violence rocked the region. The Democratic senator’s high-risk tour to prove his commander in chief mettle touched down in Jordan for talks with King Abdullah II, and an onward journey to Israel and a packed presidential-style schedule. But the region’s tensions immediately intruded, as a Palestinian man was shot dead after going on a bulldozer rampage which wounded at least 16 people near Jerusalem’s King David Hotel where Obama was to stay. Obama condemned the attack, saying it was a reminder of what Israelis have to “courageously live with on a daily basis for far too long,” and promised to vigorously join the search for Middle East peace if he is elected in November. The Illinois senator, who is being advised by ex-President Bill Clinton’s former Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, backed the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But a day before meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders, he warned that entrenched positions, divisions among Palestinians and turbulent Israeli politics meant progress could be slow. “It is a very difficult process. There is a lot of history that exists between those two people. That history is not going to vanish overnight. “So I think it’s unrealistic to expect that a US president alone can suddenly snap his fingers and bring about peace in this region,” he added. Obama flew in from Iraq aboard a US military aircraft, and disembarked carrying a helmet and a flak jacket and wearing a wrinkled shirt and heavy-duty hiking boots following his stealth visit to Iraq. While Obama is likely to be greeted as a hero in Europe, there remain questions in the Middle East about his potential policies toward the region. His view that Occupied Jerusalem must remain the undivided capital of Israel sparked fury among Palestinians, who saw it as pre-judging final status talks, while his offer to talk to Iran is likely to face scrutiny in Israel. Abdullah, fresh from a trip to the United States, hosted Obama for a half-hour of closed talks, before a formal dinner. “Jordan is a very important state in the region, it’s played an important role in the peace process,” a senior Obama adviser said on condition of anonymity. But mindful of claims by backers of Obama’s Republican rival John McCain that the trip is a mere political stunt, the aide stressed the senator was in Jordan to listen and talk. “We have one president at a time, Senator Obama is not here to make policy or negotiate but to have a very useful exchange.” In Colorado on Monday, King Abdullah said he would keep any advice to Obama private, but urged a vigorous future US role in peace moves. “I see us at a crossroads – a time of danger and challenge, but also, unique opportunities,” he said. Jordanian officials said the king would raise concerns about the Palestinian cause and his country’s efforts to help forge an independent Palestinian state. Obama’s Israel schedule has more in common with a presidential trip than that of a mere presidential candidate. He will meet Premier Ehud Olmert, President Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, opposition Likud party chief Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Obama will also pay homage to Holocaust victims at the Yad Vashem Memorial and hold talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah. The Obama camp again sought to clarify his position on Occupied Jerusalem after his comments to the US Jewish lobby in June, which aides later admitted were poorly worded. “He has repeatedly said Jerusalem is a final-status issue to be negotiated by the parties, that Jerusalem will remain Israel’s capital, but it should not again be divided by barbed wire and checkpoints,” said one adviser. After spending two days in Israel, the Illinois senator will head to Germany for the symbolic centerpiece of his campaign swing, a major open-air speech in Berlin on US transatlantic relations. – AFP

Jerusalem a minefield for Obama

When Senator Barack Obama arrives in Israel, he will find plenty of sceptics wondering if such a foreign policy neophyte has what it takes to finally nail down a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Democratic presidential hopeful has already got himself into hot water over one of the thorniest issues: the status of disputed Jerusalem.

Last month, he tried to woo Israel’s powerful US lobby by saying Jerusalem should be Israel’s capital and “must remain undivided”.

Palestinians, who claim the city’s eastern sector as capital of a future state, were furious.

Obama’s attempts to defuse the flap then got him into trouble with some Israelis and their US supporters when he clarified his remarks to say Jerusalem’s fate should be negotiated – the long-standing American position.

“When the candidate lands here [today], a fog of ambiguity will still hover over his position: it remains unclear whether Jerusalem, the focus of his brief trip, will be a united city under Israeli sovereignty or the capital of two states. Barack Obama doesn’t have a clear idea himself, and he has been straddling the fence,” former dovish MP Yossi Sarid wrote in Israel’s Haaretz newspaper.

Obama arrives in Israel after visiting Afghanistan, Iraq and Jordan. He will meet Israeli leaders and, unlike Republican rival John McCain, an avid Israel supporter who visited in March, he will travel to the West Bank for talks with Palestinian leaders, too.

Obama has a solid Senate record of supporting Israel. He has reaffirmed his backing for its right to defend itself and underscored the need to stop Iran promoting terrorism or getting nuclear weapons. Like the Bush Administration, he opposes negotiations with the Islamic militant Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.

Still, his openness to talking to Iran – Israel’s bitterest enemy – and his short stint on the national stage have made many Israelis uncomfortable at the prospect of an Obama presidency.

Ofer Malachi, a 40-year-old contractor from Jerusalem, says Obama would be “very dangerous for Israel” because of his willingness to engage in dialogue with Iran.

Israel is convinced Tehran is building nuclear weapons, despite its protestations to the contrary. Iran also backs two other Israeli foes, Hamas and Lebanon’s Hizbollah guerrillas.

Arieh Eldad of the ultranationalist National Union Party said Obama’s middle name Hussein “concerned” him and he feared the candidate would identify more easily with Arabs than Israelis. “I guess that the Arab citizens of the Arab states around Israel would be concerned if a nominee for being President of the United States, hisfamily name would be Cohen.”

Obama yesterday won endorsement from Iraq’s leadership during a Baghdad visit for his call to pull American combat forces out in 2010, irking the White House and drawing heated criticism from McCain.

Obama’s Iraq stop, including briefings and a helicopter ride above Baghdad with US commander General David Petraeus and meetings with Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and other Government leaders, forced the five-year-old war back to the top of the presidential campaign agenda.

McCain was battling to stay in the campaign spotlight as Obama’s travels drew huge attention at home and abroad. The four-term Arizona senator, appearing wrong-footed by the Iraq developments, hotly disagreed on troop withdrawals, saying any pullout “must be based on conditions on the ground”, not arbitrary timelines.

The fissures between them were only deepened when Iraqi Government spokesman Ali al-Dabagh emerged from the Obama-Maliki meeting to say: “We are hoping that in 2010 that combat troops will withdraw.”

Obama has repeatedly said he wants those forces out of the country by the middle of that year.

Iraq’s Sunni Vice-President, Tariq al-Hashemi, said: “I’d be happy if we reach an agreement to say, for instance, December 31, 2010” would mark the departure of the last US combat unit, noting the date would depend on security and the pace of training for Iraqi forces.