Middle East peace talks 'vital', says thinktank
The president is expected to make a major announcement about his plans for Middle East peace tomorrow
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By inthenews. |  |
Tuesday, 22, Sep 2009 12:08
By inthenews.co.uk staff.
A think tank has today said that serious and sustained dialogue with non-violent Islamists across the Middle East and North Africa is "vital" for political reform in the region.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (ippr) has said ahead of US president Barack Obama's speech to the 64th Session of the UN General Assembly that dialogue with such groups should be an urgent priority for the US administration.
The president is expected to make a major announcement about his plans for Middle East peace tomorrow, and the ippr have coincided the release of their new report, Political Islam in the Middle East and North Africa, with Mr Obama's speech.
They argue non-violent Islamist groups often represent the best organised and most popular opposition to existing authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, and say to date, western contact with these groups has been sporadic rather than strategic, limited by concerns about their views on particular social and religious issues.
Andy Hull, senior research fellow at ippr, said: "A renewed commitment by President Obama to resolving the long-running conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is very welcome, but cannot be pursued in isolation from attempts to promote security and prosperity across the Middle East and North Africa as a whole.
"Seeking by peaceful means a more plural politics in the Middle East and North Africa is in keeping with the UK's interests and with its values."
Ippr has also said that without giving Islamists preferential treatment, there is "scope for more consistently involving them in debate about broader relations between Europe, the US and the Middle East and North Africa alongside other non-governmental actors, including the region's secular opposition politicians".