 |
 |
 |
|
|
Abbas delivers his speech at the Norwegian Nobel Institute, in Oslo Wednesday. (AP)
|
|
|
|
|
|
| By Israel Insider staff and partners April 26, 2006 |
|
| |
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he was ready to immediately resume negotiations with Israel and called for the two sides to meet at a conference with an international mediator.
Abbas said his Palestinian Liberation Organization still has the mandate to negotiate with Israel, and that the election of a Hamas government was no obstacle.
"As President of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, and as elected Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority, I am ready to immediately resume negotiations with the Israeli government," Abbas said in a speech in Oslo.
He also said that an international conference should be called immediately for direct negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.
Abbas said he was willing to negotiate on the Palestinian side and that an international group should serve as a broker, possibly the so-called "Quartet" of the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
"The international group, whether it is the Quartet or any other international framework, would play the role of the broker and arbitrator at the same time," he said through a translator.
"It is important for me to clarify that the Palestinian legislative elections, which brought Hamas to power, (are) not an obstacle in front of negotiations," he said.
In response, Israel said a formula already exists for resuming peace talks - the long-stalled, internationally backed "road map" peace plan, which envisions the ultimate establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
"Israel believes that the best way to move forward is according to the road map, which is the international community's accepted plan for the Middle East peace process," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev said. "The road map has been endorsed by Europe, America, Russia and the U.N., and is the way forward. Unfortunately, the new Palestinian leadership under Hamas refuses to accept the road map or even Israel's right to exist."
An international conference is also envisioned by the road map, but only in the third and final stage of the blueprint for creating a Palestinian state. The road map, launched in 2003, never got off the ground because both Israel and the Palestinians failed to implement even their initial obligations.
In calling for the conference, Abbas is trying to establish an alternative to the plan of incoming Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to unilaterally draw the final borders between Israel and a Palestinian state by 2010.
Under Olmert's plan, Israel would withdraw from much of Judea and Samaria, but annex large Jewish settlement blocs and keep most of east Jerusalem, the sector claimed by the Palestinians as a future capital.
U.S. officials reiterated Wednesday that the border must be drawn in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. "Our position is quite simple. The whole final status has to be resolved in negotiations between the parties. No unilateral initiative will contribute to President Bush's vision of two states living side by side in security," said Stuart Tuttle, the U.S. Embassy spokesman in Tel Aviv.
Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, said Abbas' call for an international conference marked the first time he has asked the international community to provide an umbrella for peace talks. "He is telling Mr. Olmert that upon the completion of (forming) the coalition government, we call on him to resume permanent status negotiations with us, to abandon unilateralism."
"Now he is focusing attention on the part of the road map that specifies the convening of the international conference," Erekat said.
He acknowledged that the two sides had not reached the third and final stage of the road map, but that "we want to cut the long story short."
Abbas and his delegation arrived in Oslo on Tuesday evening after a visit to Turkey. During the 24-hour stopover in the Norwegian capital, Abbas was to meet Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and other leaders.
AP contributed to this report.
|
|
 
|
|
|
|
Click on the blue headline to read a Talkback comment and respond to it. Click on the  icon to send a private email to the talkback writer. The icon appears only if the writer has decided to be contacted. If no popup window appears, please make sure your popup blocker allows israelinsider.com.
|
|
| |
|
|
