Clinton calls for action to forge Mideast peace

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, on her first foray into Middle East diplomacy, declared the Obama administration committed to pushing intensively to find a way for Israelis and Palestinians to exist peacefully in separate states.

She used an international donors conference to issue a blunt call Monday for urgent action to forge a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace.

"We cannot afford more setbacks or delays — or regrets about what might have been, had different decisions been made," she said in apparent reference to the failure of previous peace initiatives, including those pushed vigorously by her husband's administration.

With the Obama administration's Mideast peace envoy, George Mitchell, seated behind her at a conference meant to raise billions to help the Gaza Strip recover from its recent war with Israel, Clinton said President Barack Obama would continue the Bush administration's focus on seeking a two-state solution that entails Israel and a sovereign Palestinian state co-existing in peace.

She made it clear, however, that Mideast leaders could count on Obama to take a more active approach than did his predecessor, George W. Bush.

"It is time to look ahead," she said, with an eye on the human aspects of what years of regional conflict have meant for the Palestinians and others.

"The United States is committed to a comprehensive peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and we will pursue it on many fronts," she said.

Clinton, who is scheduled to travel this week to Jerusalem to consult with Israeli government officials and to the West Bank to meet with Palestinian officials, said the United States was pledging $900 million to the international aid effort for the Gaza Strip. She gave no breakdown of the funds, but her spokesman, Robert A. Wood, said on Sunday that it included $300 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza and about $600 million in budget and development aid to the Palestinian Authority, which is based in the West Bank.

Clinton conducted a rapid-fire series of one-on-one meetings with Arab and other counterparts attending the conference. In an afternoon session with the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates, Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, she expressed doubt that Iran would respond to Obama administration diplomatic overtures, according to a U.S. official who was present in the meeting. The official described the exchange for reporters on condition of anonymity because the session was private.