Israel's Peres supports Japan's plan for Jericho industrial complex+

JERUSALEM, Dec. 26 Kyodo -
Israeli President Shimon Peres told Kyodo news in an interview Thursday he is
behind a Japanese plan for an agro-industrial project on the
Palestinian-controlled West Bank.
''We supported it from the beginning...(and) I flew to Japan to help urge our
Japanese friends (to go ahead).''
The problem, however, has been a question of how much movement will be allowed
for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
''The freedom (of movement) will depend on how much terror exists,'' he said,
adding that since Israel constructed a wall between it and the West Bank,
suicide bombers have been thwarted and ''a lot of arms, smuggled arms'' have
been confiscated.
Recently, he said, the security situation has improved and that will lead to
further gains for Palestinians in the area.
''The economic situation in the West Bank, including Jericho, has improved
greatly and we have dismantled our checkpoints already, so the more we have
security, the more we shall (open up).
''We don't have any interest to stop development, but on the contrary, we
encourage it,'' Peres said.
On the failure of the George W. Bush administration in the United States to
help advance Israel-Palestinian relations during the past year, Peres said he
felt the division in the Palestinian camp since the election of a Hamas-led
government had made the peace process more complicated.
''(But) I think that the differences on the territorial borders are almost
solved...we have to complete the negotiations with the Palestinians and I
wouldn't exclude that we do that in a year's time,'' the president added.
As to Iran's apparent nuclear-weapons ambitions, Peres said simply, ''Israel
doesn't intend to go to war, plain and simple.''
He added that he believes Russia is as much against Iran becoming a
nuclear-weapons state as anyone, but that its approach is to try to convince
Iran to give up any ambitions through dialogue.
''(Premier Vladimir) Putin told me, I think he told many people, Russia cannot
live with an Iranian bomb. They are totally against it, but they think they can
prevent it by talking to Iran instead of pressing Iran.''
As to suggestions U.S. president-elect Barack Obama may be ready to open direct
negotiations with Iran at the very highest levels, Peres cautioned against
haste.
''I hope that it won't be done before the elections (in Iran) because it may
affect the results of the elections,'' Peres said.
Iran is to hold a presidential election June 12 next year and many critics of
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad are hoping growing economic woe resulting
from falling crude oil prices will lead to his unseating by a less bombastic
opponent.
But no clear challenger has yet emerged from a more moderate camp in Iran.
==Kyodo
2008-12-26 23:24:12