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Friday, Sep 02, 2005
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Atul Aneja
MANAMA: Pakistani Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri and his Israeli counterpart Silvan Shalom have met in Istanbul, capping a series of back channel contacts, which have been taking place for "several years." The two leaders met at Istanbul's Four Seasons hotel — a former Ottoman empire prison — over dinner, marking the first public interaction at Foreign Minister level. After the talks, Mr. Kasuri said Pakistan had decided to "engage" Israel after the withdrawal from Gaza. Islamabad, however, was not ready to recognise Israel, he added. Mr. Shalom described the talks as a "historic meeting." and hoped for "a full diplomatic relationship with Pakistan as we would like it with all Muslim and Arab countries." According to agency reports, the talks took place at the initiative of Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. Analysts point out that the purpose of the Istanbul meeting was to express Pakistan's readiness to normalise interaction with Israel and to gauge the domestic response to the move. Mr. Shalom said, "We decided that from now on, the relations will be open, the relations will be good." The Israeli daily Haaretz reported that several confidence-building measures were under consideration, such as a relaxation of Pakistan's ban against travel to Israel. Mr. Shalom said that two countries could begin interaction by sending ministerial delegations.
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