[AP] Barry Schweid - The U.S. should shift its main foreign policy focus in the Middle East from Iraq to curtailing Iran's nuclear program and promoting peace agreements between Israel and its Arab neighbors, analysts at the Brookings Institution and the Council on Foreign Relations proposed Tuesday. The report, "Restoring the Balance: A Middle East Strategy for the Next President," called on the new administration to support conciliation between Fatah, the Palestinian group with which Israel has negotiated, and Hamas, which controls Gaza and has refused to recognize Israel's right to exist. That new U.S. strategy would diminish the Islamists' incentive to undermine peace negotiations with Israel and force Hamas either to accept a peace agreement that supports Palestinian rights or lose the backing of the Palestinian public, said Steven A. Cook, of CFR, and Shibley Telhami, of Brookings.
2008-12-04 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive