Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Tuesday pledged to work for a Middle East peace plan by the end of 2008 at the opening of a peace conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Reading a joint statement, U.S. President George W. Bush said both sides had agreed to “engage in vigorous, ongoing and continuous negotiations, and shall make every effort to conclude an agreement before the end of 2008.” The agreement, signed between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert under Bush's facilitation, emphasized the three countries' “determination to bring an end to bloodshed, suffering and decades of conflict between our peoples.” The one-day Annapolis conference will serve as the beginning of ongoing bilateral negotiations, including bi-weekly meetings between Olmert and Abbas, the agreement said. The statement also announced the establishment of a joint steering committee for the ongoing negotiations, which will be charged with developing a joint work plan to address all the relevant issues, and will be headed by one lead representative from each party. The first session of the steering committee will be held on December 12, 2007. The joint agreement aims to “ usher in a new era of peace, based on freedom, security, justice, dignity, respect and mutual recognition; to propagate a culture of peace and nonviolence (and) to confront terrorism and incitement, whether committed by Palestinians or Israelis.” Under the agreement, the two sides also committed to immediately implementing “their respective obligations under the performance-based road map to a permanent two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict … and agree to form an American, Palestinian and Israeli mechanism, led by the United States, to follow up on the implementation of the road map.”
