The Hindu : 'Global reconciliation key to peace, growth'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 22, 2003

International

International

'Global reconciliation key to peace, growth'

SOUTHERN SHUNEH (Jordan) JUNE 21. Global movers and shakers opened an extraordinary session of the World Economic Forum on Saturday, facing questions about whether it is too soon to talk business while violence continues in Iraq as well as Israel and the Palestinian territories.

``Peace, stability, the rule of law — before you have those assured it will be very difficult for private enterprise,'' Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chief executive of Nestle SA, conceded at an opening news conference.

More than 1,100 participants, including 11 heads of state or government and dozens of Cabinet Ministers, were at the hastily called, three-day ``global reconciliation summit'' at a Dead Sea resort in Jordan.

Among the political luminaries to address the conference are the U.S. Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the U.N. Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, and Paul Bremer, the U.S.-appointed civilian administrator of Iraq.

The Saudi co-chair of the conference, Khalid Alireza, said he initially thought it would be a bad idea because ``the wounds are too fresh'' in Iraq and the ``road map'' to Israeli-Palestinian peace ``not having crystallised'' yet. But, he said he changed his mind in the hope that the conference could provide ``leadership out of the quagmire.'' ``We cannot afford to have the extremists of the world lead the agenda,'' said Mr. Alireza, chairman of Xenal/Saudi Cable Co. ``We must set a tone, a way to enhance cooperation and build on diversities in this world.''

The summit, he said, also ``identifies the importance of this part of the world to the rest of the world.''

The Forum founder, Klaus Schwab, said that while rebuilding Iraq and reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts would take most of the headlines at the conference, improving business and social conditions across the region were also important.

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