UN to host international media seminar on Middle East peace process

Policy-makers from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and the European Union, as well as senior United Nations officials, international experts, and representatives of the world media will gather in Copenhagen next week at a seminar on peace in the Middle East organized by the UN Department of Public Information (DPI).

Co-hosted by the Danish Government, the gathering on 17 and 18 July will hear a keynote address by Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process. He will be joined by Nabil Sha'ath, the Palestinian Authority Minister for Planning and International Cooperation, Yossi Beilin, Israel's former Minister of Justice, and Miguel Moratinos, the European Union's Special Representative to the Middle East Peace Process.

The seminar will be opened by Denmark's Foreign Minister, Per Stig Møller, who is currently the President of the Council of the European Union. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is expected to issue a message to the participants, which will be delivered by Shashi Tharoor, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information.

Under the overall theme of "Ending confrontation: Building peace in the Middle East," the seminar will provide a forum for media representatives and international experts to discuss lessons learned since the signing of the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements by Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization in 1993.

Participants will review the issues that continue to divide the Israelis and Palestinians and the role of third parties, especially the UN, in restoring confidence and building trust. A separate session will be devoted to discussing the role of the media as a partner for peace.