ISTANBUL : Israel and Pakistan held their first-ever high-level
talks in a bid to normalise ties, but Pakistani President Pervez
Musharraf, faced with protests at home, insisted his country was
not yet ready to recognise the Jewish state.
Buoyed by Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip and its desire to
better its ties with Arab and Muslim states in general, Israeli
Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and his Pakistani counterpart
Khurshid Kasuri met in Istanbul on Thursday for what they called
historic talks.
The two ministers emerged upbeat from the meeting which was
arranged after Turkey, a mainly Muslim but strictly secular state
with close ties with both countries, played a mediating role to
bring them together.
In a joint press conference with Shalom, Kasuri hailed the
withdrawal of Israeli troops and settlers from the Gaza Strip,
which he said constituted a turning point for the establishment of
a Palestinian state.
"Pakistan has therefore decided to engage with Israel," he told
reporters at a top Istanbul hotel where the talks were held but did
not elaborate on what sort of an engagement his country was
planning.
Shalom, for his part, said the meeting heralded a new era in
bilateral ties.
"This is a historic meeting," the Israeli minister said. "We see
this meeting as the beginning of a new period, the beginning of
open and useful mutual relations."
Israel was hoping to establish diplomatic relations with Pakistan,
Shalom told a separate news conference later in the day, but
acknowledged that they were not in the making soon.
"I believe positive and full diplomatic ties will be established,
but this will take time," he said.
Israeli diplomatic sources in Turkey said a formal agreement could
be announced at the UN General Assembly later this month, to be
attended by leaders of the both countries.
Israel currently has full diplomatic relations with only three Arab
states - Mauritania, Egypt and Jordan - and a handful of Muslim
majority states including Turkey.
It has been hoping that its pullout from the Gaza Strip would help
bridge the gap with the Arab and Muslim world.
But the Istanbul talks unleashed outrage among Pakistani
fundamentalists who called for nationwide protests after Friday
prayers to express anger at the government's "anti-Islamic
move".
"This is a move which is against the interest of Islamic Ummah
(community) and reflects the pro-US policies of the present
government," Shahid Shamsi, the spokesman for a powerful alliance
of six Islamic parties which leads the opposition, told AFP.
Threatened by protests, Musharraf promptly denied any change in
Pakistan's long-held stance that diplomatic ties with Israel could
only be considered once a Palestinian homeland is
established.
"This does not mean that we are recognising Israel," he told
reporters. "We will not recognise Israel unless the Palestinians
get their homeland or there are signs of an accord in this
direction."
He defended the Istanbul meeting, saying it was backed by Saudi
Arabia's King Abdullah and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas.
But the Palestinian authority said it was "worried" about
Pakistan's diplomatic contact with Israel as the Jewish state
continues to occupy east Jerusalem and the West Bank.
"It is not good to give Israel gifts before it really implements
the peace process, not only in Gaza, but in Gaza, the West Bank and
Jerusalem," deputy prime minister Nabil Shaath told
reporters.
The Istanbul meeting comes just two weeks before Musharraf, a key
US ally, is due to make a rare address to the American Jewish
Congress in New York, to speak about his campaign for moderation in
the Muslim world. - AFP/dt/de
seems good to me.... 