Forum Talks Focus on Mideast Dialogue

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, talks with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni during a symposium at the World Economic Forum in the Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt Sunday, May 21, 2006. Abbas on Sunday said the raging power-struggle between Palestinian factions must not deteriorate into civil war. (AP Photo/Nasser Nasser) (Nasser Nasser - AP)

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt -- Global business and political leaders focused Sunday on dialogue, democracy and development in the Middle East, although three major players _ Iran, Hamas and Syria _ were absent, leaving the talks nearly rancor free but with a hollow ring.

The World Economic Forum's regional meeting, however, did succeed in bringing Palestinian and Israeli leaders together for the first time since the Islamic militants of Hamas won Palestinian elections in January.

Iran and its nuclear dispute with the West, Syria and its troubles with the United Nations, and Hamas with its aid boycott by the United States and European Union are among the contentious issues in the region and their absence put those questions on the sidelines.

Iran has been a regular participant at the main World Economic Forum gathering in Davos, Switzerland, but skipped the regional session at Sharm el-Sheik.

The Palestinian invitation to the first of the forum's Middle East conferences to be hosted by Egypt went to President Mahmoud Abbas, who is at loggerheads with the Hamas-led government.

Syria, under suspicion in the assassination of a former Lebanese leader and accused of not doing enough to stop insurgents from crossing into Iraq, also stayed away.

The lack of participation may have been for the best, forum chief Klaus Schwab said.

"The principle of the World Economic Forum is dialogue, positive dialogue. At the moment, regrettably, I think the situation is such that we could not feel we can make a specific contribution at this meeting for better understanding, for better relations," he said at a news conference Saturday.

Participants in forum symposiums Sunday talked about ways to increase regional dialogue and expand democracy in Arab nations, although the discussions sometimes butted into regional realities.

Egyptian Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif insisted his government already engages in dialogue, saying elections and parliamentary debates are a kind of dialogue as Egypt engages in a process of reform.

But Egyptian authorities have virtually gutted the moderate opposition. And police and security forces used violence against supporters of the fundamentalist Muslim Brotherhood to keep them from reaching polling stations during parliamentary elections late last year.

Egyptian security forces also cracked down twice in two weeks on anti-government protesters in Cairo, beating them and throwing hundreds in jail. The U.S. responded with an unusual public criticism of its longtime close Arab ally.