US General William Fraser on Fridayh held his first trilateral meeting with Israeli and Palestinian officials since he was appointed by President George W Bush to supervise both sides' lagging implementation of the "road map" peace plan, according to dpa. The meeting in Jerusalem was confidential and held behind closed doors, a US embassy spokesman said. Fraser would not make his evaluation public, but after presenting it to the sides, would also submit his report to US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. A statement from the embassy said the "cordial and frank" discussions "examined areas where the parties are not meeting their commitments and the reasons why." It said the goal of the "trilateral mechanism," established by Bush following the November 27 peace conference in Annapolis, was to improve conditions on the ground, build confidence and "give impetus to political negotiations that will lead to two states living side by side in peace and security." Those negotiations were revived after Annapolis, ending a seven- year freeze in the Middle East peace process. But they have since been overshadowed by surging violence in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian anger over continued Israeli construction in settlement blocs and areas of East Jerusalem which it wants to keep as part of a future peace deal. Acting Prime Minister Salam Fayyad attended the meeting in Jerusalem on behalf of the Palestinians, while Israel sent a senior official in the Defence Ministry, Amos Gilad, a major-general in the reserves and in charge of diplomatic and security affairs. Gilad denied as "baseless rumours" reports that Defence Minister Ehud Barak had originally been due to attend, but cancelled and sent a lower-ranking official instead over the tension between the sides. "This meeting was agreed and took place exactly as it was planned," he told Israel Radio. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed in Annapolis to strive for an agreement before the end of 2008. They also pledged to revive the long-stalled, US-, European Union, United Nations and Russian-sponsored 2003 road map. That plan, which never moved beyond its first phase, demands Israel uproot several dozen unauthorized settlers' outposts erected independently by settler leaders over the past decade, and freeze all construction in formal, older settlements. The Palestinians for their part must arrest and disarm militants. Israel, fearing the establishment of anarchic Palestinian state with no full control over militants, has made the implementation of any agreement reached on paper this year conditional to implementation of the road map. But while it accuses the Palestinians of failing to act harshly against the militants in the territories under their controls, the Palestinians have reacted furiously to continued Israeli settlement construction. Bush said in Annapolis the US would play the role of a "judge" and oversee each side met their road map commitments, and announced the appointment of General Fraser to the task during his visit to the region in January. Rice said during her latest visit to the region last week that both sides still had "a lot of work" to do to implement their part. But in Washington this week she criticized an Israeli plan to build some 750 new houses in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem, Givat Ze'ev, calling the plan "not helpful." The road map calls for a complete freeze in settlement construction, but when it was first launched in April 2003, Israel accepted it with "reservations," and said it would not stop building within the boundaries of existing settlements to provide for "natural growth." While it has frozen construction elsewhere, it continues to build mainly in those settlement blocs near the "green line" separating it from the West Bank and in particular in those adjacent to Jerusalem or within the city's municipal boundaries, saying it wants to keep these as part of its capital. An senior aide to Fayyad, however, said Friday the Palestinian premier demanded a total freeze and emphasized at the meeting "not a single brick" should be added to any settlement. Fayyad went to the meeting to ensure the US exercise its responsibility toward this Israeli "negligence," Jamal Zaqoud told the Qatari al-Jazeera television channel. Abbas earlier this month suspended the peace negotiations with Israel, after five days of deadly Gaza violence left more than 125 Palestinians and five Israelis dead. Rice announced in Jerusalem last week that the sides agreed to resume the negotiations, but they have yet to do so.
