Elder statesmen on Middle East peace

ISRAEL: A group of prominent former statesmen and business leaders started a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on yesterday in a bid to encourage Middle East peace efforts.

The delegation from the group known as "The Elders" includes former US president Jimmy Carter, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, and Richard Branson, the British founder and chief executive of the multi-national Virgin Group.

"We are very supportive of the current efforts to reopen negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians," said former Brazilian president Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who is leading the delegation.

"But we do not come as representatives of any government," he told reporters before the group met Israeli youths at a cultural centre in Jerusalem.

"We are here to listen to those whose lives are affected by the conflict and to meet a wide group of people," he said.

The delegation will visit the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Wednesday where they will meet Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad as well as Palestinian refugees and young people. It was not clear whether the group would visit the Hamas-run Gaza Strip.

"We decided not to go now to Gaza because the security situation is not clear there," Cardoso said.

Jerusalem, Tuesday, AFP