The roadmap must be revived: PER STIG MOLLER and MARWAN MUASHER:

Monday, Nov 17, 2003

Even before the attacks of September 11 2001, Denmark and Jordan had joined the US to fight the common affliction of terrorism. We have made quite clear that this alliance must apply the same vigour, intensity and focus in pursuit of peace and development as it does in its pursuit of violent extremists. Just as the reconstruction of Iraq and the international campaign against al-Qaeda and its cohorts run in parallel, so the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians and the crackdown on extremists from both sides must happen simultaneously.

The Madrid "roadmap" for peace in the Middle East sets a course towards a permanent two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on parallel and reciprocal steps by the parties to end terror, violence and incitement. In June, at the Sharm el-Sheikh and Aqaba summit meetings, Mahmoud Abbas, then Palestinian prime minister, and Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, committed themselves to this vision in the presence of President George W. Bush and Jordan's King Abdullah, as well as other Arab leaders. For a short time, hope triumphed over despair.

But acts that promoted peace moved more slowly than acts of terror and retaliation. Ceasefires were inadequately monitored or enforced. Violations, cited by both sides, could never be substantiated, leaving the door open for the cycle of violence to continue almost unabated. Now, five months later, the peace process is paralysed. Israelis and Palestinians who dare to meet and discuss a final settlement are likened, by some, to traitors.

Informal discussions between prominent Palestinians and Israelis have produced an unofficial agreement, the Geneva accord. A peace petition signed by more than 60,000 Palestinians and 100,000 Israelis is also in progress. Both initiatives have been greeted with derision by senior officials and pundits, not only in the Middle East but also in the US and Europe. To pursue prospects for peace, no matter how tenuous, the region needs catalysts, not cynics. As foreign ministers from different continents, we have a shared historical perspective on the dangers that arise if regional conflicts are left to fester.

In the past century, Denmark witnessed the savagery of two world wars. The country was under German occupation for five years, and for almost five decades sat on the frontline of the cold war. After the collapse of the Iron Curtain, Denmark worked to avoid the emergence of new dividing lines in Europe by pressing for accession of the former eastern bloc countries to the European Union and Nato.

In half a century, Jordan made the transition from war to peace under the leadership of the late King Hussein. He concluded that peace with another veteran of war, Yitzhak Rabin, the late Israeli prime minister. Both men knew too well how endless war could endanger the future of their peoples. Both took risks for peace and Mr Rabin paid for it with his life. In 1998 King Hussein thought peace important enough to suspend his cancer treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and travelled to Wye, Maryland, to coax Israelis and Palestinians to reach an agreement. They did; he died four months later.

It is quite understandable that peoples living in a state of constant fear and insecurity should lose sight of their ultimate goal. But there is no valid reason for the international community to lose its own objectivity.

Both of us believe it is time to revive the roadmap. Dialogue between the parties must resume; disputes should be settled at the negotiating table, not in the streets. Both sides must, in parallel, implement their commitments in order to achieve a two-state solution by 2005, a deadline that was confirmed by Mr Bush last year and one that we are determined should be met.

At the same time, the international parties to the roadmap must shoulder their responsibilities. They should devise a mechanism for international monitoring of compliance with the roadmap, to hold the parties to their commitments. But full implementation of the roadmap is only the beginning. While we continue to seek a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, we are also exploring ideas to encourage more regular dialogue between Middle Eastern nations, as well as between the Middle East and Europe.

Despite the seeming proliferation of bilateral and multilateral organisations, the Middle East lacks a forum in which countries can discuss both "soft" security issues, such as economic development, and "hard" issues, such as non-proliferation.

Last month, Jordan hosted the annual meeting of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, with its Mediterranean partners, to examine how Europe's experiences from the OSCE could be relevant to the Middle East. This was the first time the OSCE had met in the Middle East. It could prove to be an important first step in discussions aimed at finding the appropriate model for regional dialogue.

All this is part of the same process: establishment of a roadmap for the future of the region and a path towards security, peace and prosperity. The resolve we demonstrate in seizing control of the peace process from the extremists will determine whether or not we are successful in bringing all parties together to focus on their common objectives. If we fail, we shall never build as effective a coalition for peace as we have for the war against terrorism.

Per Stig Moller is the foreign minister of Denmark. Marwan Muasher is the foreign minister of Jordan

By PER STIG MOLLER and MARWAN MUASHER