LONDON, March 1 -- Delegates to an international conference pledged on Tuesday to help the Palestinian Authority strengthen its governing institutions, combat corruption and unify its security forces, in preparation for Israel's planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip later this year and for what the meeting's organizers said they hoped would soon be the formation of a Palestinian state.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair, who convened the one-day session, called the measures "the foundation stones necessary to create that viable state in the future." Blair said resolving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute was essential for Europe and the world as well as the Middle East, because violence in the region remains a cause of international tension.
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas greets Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in London at a meeting convened to help the Palestinians prepare for Israel's pullout from the Gaza Strip.
(Omar Rashidi -- Palestinian Authority Via Reuters)
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Video: Mahmoud Abbas pledges to reform Palestinian security agencies.
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"Much of the poison that we want to take out of international relations has swirled around because of the failure to make progress on this issue," Blair said at a news conference with the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, at his side.
Abbas, who reluctantly agreed to attend the session, said the Palestinians "have seized the opportunity presented by this conference" to continue movement toward reforming their fragmented security apparatus and trying to revive the devastated economy of the Palestinian territories.
The Palestinians had feared the conference would focus on the need for Palestinian reforms rather than on Israel's continued occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Israel was not invited to attend the gathering, which Blair and the organizers said was never intended to be a peace conference or a negotiation over details of a future settlement.
The final communique, however, did call on Israel to assist in the development of a viable Palestinian economy by easing its policy of closing off the territories, allowing the free movement of Palestinians and protecting Palestinian infrastructure from further damage.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the Bush administration would assist in the security reform effort by leading a multi-country group, under Lt. Gen. William E. Ward, to help retrain and restructure the Palestinian security forces.
The plan, announced at the conference, calls for the multiple armed forces to be consolidated into three branches. It also calls for the resumption of security coordination with Israel, which was halted in 2000.
The conference came just four days after a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv nightclub killed five Israelis, ending a lull in suicide attacks inside Israel. Conference participants reiterated the need for the Palestinians to act against armed militants if the peace process is to move forward.
The group overseeing the peace process -- the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia, known as the Quartet -- met on the conference sidelines and called on the Palestinian Authority "to apprehend and bring to justice the perpetrators" of Friday's attack. Abbas reiterated pledges to find the attackers and stressed "our complete readiness to exert 100 percent efforts in the domain of security."
The participants also stressed that continued violence by extremists should not be allowed to jeopardize what is widely seen as an opening for renewed peace efforts after the death of Yasser Arafat and an informal truce declared by Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Egypt on Feb. 8.
"This is a moment of opportunity. It's vital that we seize it," Blair said. U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said in his opening remarks, "The prevailing mood is one of optimism."
At the same time, the Quartet warned Israel that "no party should undertake unilateral actions that could prejudge the resolution of final status issues." Echoing the words President Bush has used recently in speeches, the group said: "Quartet members agree on the need to ensure that a new Palestinian state is truly viable, including with contiguous territory in the West Bank. A state of scattered territories will not work."
While the session was not intended to be a donors conference, the Palestinians said they had received aid pledges of more than $1 billion for 2005, although much of the money was promised before the meeting. That figure includes a pledge of $330 million from the European Union, the largest single donor to the Palestinians.
Outside the Queen Elizabeth II conference center, about 50 Palestinians held a noisy protest, waving orange placards denouncing Abbas as a "puppet" of the United States. There were no reported incidents or arrests.
