Brasilia - Brazil on Thursday weighed in on the Middle East peace process, asking Israel to scrap new home building plans in occupied East Jerusalem just prior to a visit from Palestinian National Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. In the statement, released just hours before Abbas was to have dinner with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the foreign ministry expressed its "profound concern" over the planned building of 900 homes in the disputed territory and asked Israel to improve "political conditions" to attain peace.
Lula is hosting a series of Middle East leaders in short succession. Last week, Israeli President Shimon Peres was in Brazil, the first visit by an Israeli leader in more than four decades. Lula pledged he would help mediate the peace process.
On Monday, Lula will play host to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Just days after Peres left Brazil, the Israeli government announced the home-building plans. Critics said the project complicated plans to relaunch Israel-Palestinian peace talks.
"The decision of the Israeli government to expand the settlement lying on Palestinian land violates UN Security Council resolutions on the issue and goes against the obligations that Israel took on in the framework of the (international) Roadmap'," the Brazilian foreign ministry said.
For Brazil, the planned expansion of settlements is "a hard blow to international efforts towards re-launching the peace process in the region."
"It is a new obstacle to the realization of the goal of a future geographically-cohesive and economically-viable Palestinian state," the statement said.
Abbas was to meet Lula for dinner in the northeastern Brazilian city of Salvador, one of the country's most historic areas and the one-time colonial capital.
Abbas' official visit had been announced for Friday, and it was not clear if the dinner on Thursday was a last minute official addition or if the meeting was of a personal nature.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who is part of Abbas' team in Brazil, said the trip was part of the PNA's efforts to seek international support for the creation of a Palestinian state with pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Lula has made it clear that he would like to turn Brazil into a major player in peace talks for the Middle East.
Some Brazilian media have even said that Brazil might take on a role similar to that played by Norway in the early 1990s, at the time of the Oslo Accords - a failed effort towards the resolution of the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim anticipated that Lula might try to convince Abbas to stay at the helm of the PNA, despite his announcement that he will not contest the January presidential election.
Abbas is scheduled to stay in Salvador till early Saturday, before moving on to the southern city of Porto Alegre, which holds a large proportion of Brazil's Palestinian community.
From Brazil, Abbas is set to travel to Chile, the site of the largest Palestinian community outside the Arab world, with about 300,000 people. In Santiago, he is scheduled to meet with Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, before heading to Buenos Aires.
