Leaders hail Mid-East peace hope
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George W Bush and Tony Blair voice optimism for the setting up of an independent Palestinian state.
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World leaders have been sending their condolences following the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
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Prime Minister Ehud Olmert expressed the hope Wednesday that the U.S.-sponsored Mideast conference later this year will mark the beginning of the end of his country's conflict with the Palestinians.
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Prime Minister Tony Blair said the Middle East peace process was the &quot;highest priority&quot; for the international community as he expressed his condolences over the death of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.
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Palestinians and Israelis have agreed in principle to proposals aiming to end their conflict, Egypt&#39;s official news agency MENA reported Tuesday.
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SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt  - Israeli and Palestinian  leaders proclaimed a formal end to more than four years of  bloodshed at a summit in Egypt Tuesday.
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A rare optimism is taking hold among Palestinians amid signs of a possible breakthrough in the long-deadlocked Mideast peace process.
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Tony Blair gives an optimistic assessment that a peace agreement in the Middle East is within reach.
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Seven years of violence have bludgeoned expectations for Mideast peacemaking, and Israelis and Palestinians are greeting President Bush's belated drive to solve their decades-old conflict with deep skepticism.
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British newspapers cautiously welcomed a ceasefire pledge by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas as possibly reviving the moribund peace process.
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Palestinian leaders have called for a speedy resumption of peace efforts with Israel, a day after Yasser Arafat's burial in Ramallah.
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A new cease-fire and a strikingly conciliatory speech by Israel's prime minister are raising hopes for progress in Mideast peacemaking.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Hundreds of pilgrims and a  new Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town of  Jesus's birth on Saturday with new hopes for peace following  Yasser Arafat's death.
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The U.N.'s top Middle East envoy said there are "signs of hope" that Israel and the Palestinians can agree to revive the stalled peace process in time for a related U.S.-sponsored international conference in November.
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For the past four years, Middle East peace could safely be filed under the same heading as Santa Claus: nice fantasy. But this Christmas, glimmers of hope have materialized in the Holy Land.
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BETHLEHEM, West Bank  - Pilgrims and a new  Palestinian leadership celebrated Christmas in the town of  Jesus's birth with prayers for peace on Saturday, lifted by  fresh hope following Yasser Arafat's death.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank  - Middle East peace hopes  were boosted on Monday when Mahmoud Abbas was elected  Palestinian president and Israel's parliament backed Ariel  Sharon's new coalition to implement his planned Gaza pullout.