Azerbaijan, Baku, Jan.29 / Trend , U. Sadigova / A visit of U.S. special representative on the
Middle East George Mitchell to Egypt, Palestine and Israel may become the base to signing an armistice agreement between Israel and Hamas and halt the arm smuggling.
However, experts regard Obama's policy in the Middle East unbalanced as it
ignores the opinion of Arabian political organizations acting against the US such as Syrian government, influential Lebanon organization Hezbollah and Hamas movement.
Obama renounced negotiations with Hamas and made no statement on relations with pro-Iranian Syria which has no diplomatic relations with the US, Reuter reported referring to official figures of the White House.
The U.S. special representative discussed the prevention of the arm smuggling from Egypt to Gaza and opening of the check point between Israel and Palestine at the meeting with Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, BBC Russian website reported.
The topic of Mitchell's talks with Egyptian, Palestinian and Israeli heads of state was to sign a long-term armistice agreement between Hamas and Israel which will put an end to the military conflict in Gaza strip.
The 22-day military operation of Israel in Gaza claimed lives of about 1,300 Palestinians and left over 5,000 injured, BBC reported referring to Palestinian sources.
"Obama's policy is unbalanced as his envoy Mitchell doesn't negotiate with Syria and Lebanon which are against the policy of the UN in the Middle East," editor assistant of British Journal of Middle East Studies Nicola Pratt told Trend in a telephone conversation.
Mitchell said that the first visit to the region, after the appointment to the post of special representative last week, should demonstrate the intention of the US to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, BBC reported.
Pratt said that Mitchell's visit will not contribute to settling Palestinian-Israeli problems, because he will not negotiate with Hamas which became an important side in the settlement of the conflict in the Middle East after winning Palestinian the 2006 parliamentary election.
The expert said that Obama's policy shouldn't be regarded balanced as he negotiates with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan which are the U.S. allies. However, the voice of Arabian states being against the policy of Washington avoided.
"Once Obama said that he will not listen to Muslim world and at the same time recognized Jerusalem as an integral capital of Israel which is a breach of the international law," international relations lecturer of the University of East Anglia said.
Israel occupied the Eastern part of Jerusalem in the Six-day battle in 1967 and declared it a capital in 1980 with placing Israeli Parliament -Knesset and many foreign embassies. The Palestinian government regards Jerusalem as its capital as it was so till the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories in 1948. However, the United Nations and other international organizations don't recognize unilateral annexation of the Eastern Jerusalem and gave this place a neutral status.
Mitchell's visit to the region on the backdrop of the conflict situation is indicative of the importance of removing the conflict in the Middle East in the U.S. foreign policy and Omaba's aspiration for closely familiarizing with the problems of the region. However, experts consider that Obama gains time with concealing his future plans.
By appointing Mitchell special representative, Obama announced that "he believes in Mitchell's diplomatic experience in solution of conflicts and it will help to solve conflicts in the Middle East."
Earlier Mitchell took an active part in peaceful resolution in the Northern Irelands. He says "his experience in peaceful resolution in the Northern Ireland allows him to be optimistic in such complicated region as Middle East," BBC reported.
Barack Obama continues George Bush's Middle East policy. The most important for him is to preserve the U.S. strategic interest. This is Israel's security, head of Yaffa Egyptian Strategic Studies Center Refat Sayyid Ahmad said.
"The U.S. policy will not change by changing a person. It changes when there is a new government. Obama will not be able to solve Palestine-Israel problem," Sayyid Ahmad said to Trend in a telephone conversation from Cairo.
Israel and the U.S. have signed strategic cooperation agreement. The Arab world should not expect radical changes in Washington's foreign policy on the Middle East, Ahmad said.
"I think Obama makes statements [about peace with Arab countries] only for a public," Ahmad said. "In fact he will continue to support Israel in denying existence of the Palestinian government, Arabs' rights to Jerusalem and suspending construction of Jewish settlements."
One of aims of Mitchell's visit to the Middle East was to persuade that the U.S. is interested in peaceful ties with the Arab states and send a message to Israel about flexible policy of new administration in the resolution of the conflict in the region, head of the Center for Middle East Studies based in Jordan Javad Mahmud al-Hamid said.
"Both Democrat and Republican administration of the U.S. have a strategic plan for the Middle East," al-Hamid said to Trend in a telephone conversation from Amman. "The most important for the U.S. is oil, but Obama has more chances for peace for Arab states than Bush as he acts diplomatically."
George Mitchell's first visit to the region will help to solve humanitarian problem in Palestine and smuggle of arms to Gaza through a tunnel. But this is not enough to solve key issue - Palestine-Israeli truce, said David Sсhenker, director of Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute.
It is early to speak about success of Obama's Middle East plans, professor at Haifa University of Israel Amatzia Baram said.
"First of all, smuggling to Gaza via Egyptian border must be resolved through mediation of Arab and west counties," Baram told Trend by telephone.
"If smuggle of arms shrink 50-70 percent, it will be crucial success, Israeli analyst said.
"We do not know to what extend the problem in the Middle East is likely to be solved, but Hillary Clinton and George Mitchell's political experience gives hopes for it," he said.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at [email protected]