Geneva peace plan launched as four killed in West Bank

GENEVA (AFP) — Palestinian and Israeli opposition figures unveiled an alternative peace initiative here despite fierce denunciations back home as their conflict claimed four more lives, including that of a nine-year-old boy.

About 700 people attended the glitzy ceremony marking the formal launch of the Geneva Initiative, presided over by Hollywood movie star Richard Dreyfuss and attended by other celebrities and former leaders.

"It's unlikely that we shall ever see a more promising foundation for peace," former US president Jimmy Carter said as the public ceremony got under way at a conference centre near UN headquarters.

"The only alternative to this initiative is sustained and permanent violence," he added.

Former Palestinian information minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, who along with ex-Israeli justice minister Yossi Beilin was among the main architects of the plan, said that it was "the first step in a long march" towards peace.

"This proves ...