Khalil Fleihan
Daily Star correspondent

Palestinian Cabinet Minister Nabil Shaath said Tuesday that a US-proposed regional peace conference would be a mere “photo-op” if it lacked a time-table for an Israeli withdrawal and the participation of both Lebanon and Syria.
After talks in Baabda Palace with President Emile Lahoud, Shaath, the Palestinian Authority’s minister of planning and international cooperation said that “we want something that will have results, not a photo-op with whoever represents Israel at the conference.”
He insisted that a peace conference result in a “fair” solution for the refugee issue and a complete withdrawal from Israeli-occupied areas in Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.
Shaath arrived in Beirut on Sunday with messages for Lebanese leaders from Palestinian President Yasser Arafat.
Earlier Tuesday, he held talks with Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud.
“We are experiencing a full Israeli occupation, while the world believes that this occupation came to an end with the termination of the first incursion,” Shaath said. “In these difficult days, we are moving within the framework of the Arab Peace Initiative with the aim of rallying all international and Arab forces to ensure a full Israeli withdrawal from Lebanese, Syrian and Palestinian territories occupied after June 4, 1967.”
He also reiterated that the Palestinians would not attend a conference that did not include Lebanon and Syria.
Meanwhile, well-informed sources underlined the importance of coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Lebanon, as current chair of the Arab summit, in meeting challenges posed by recent developments in the region.
For their part, Lebanese leaders have expressed satisfaction with the PA’s abstinence from unilateral action and instead seeking a united Arab stand to deal with future developments in the region.

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