Former SDLP leader Mr John Hume is one of three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates taking part in a new Middle East peace initiative which begins today.
Mr Hume travelled to Geneva yesterday following a request from the Swiss government. With former US president Mr Jimmy Carter and former Polish leader, Mr Lech Walesa, Mr Hume will meet with Palestinian and Israeli representatives in a day of talks.
Speaking to The Irish Times yesterday, Mr Hume said he felt honoured to be asked to participate in the initiative.
Some years ago, he spoke about peace when he addressed a conference in Berlin. Both Mr Yasser Arafat, the Palestinian President, and Mr Shimon Peres, the Israeli Labour party leader, were in the audience, and afterwards both separately asked him to go to the Middle East and make a similar speech.
However, Mr Hume did not travel at that time as a US peace initiative had been launched.
He said he did not know if today's meeting in Geneva was a one-off experience, or if the three men would be asked to return for further talks. "It is a very honourable thing to be asked to do. I assume we are being asked to go there because of our experience."
