Palestinian President Abbas
צילום: AP
Abbas aiming to restart talks with Israel
Palestinian president tells reporters in Cairo that current problem in process is with Israel, which has not yet formed policy on renewal of negotiations with PA. 'By early July something should happen on this front,' he says
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday he was making strong diplomatic efforts to renew the dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.
Speaking at a Cairo press conference after meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas said the problem now was that the Israeli side had not yet formed a policy regarding the renewal of talks. "We were told it would happen soon," he said.
"This will happen within weeks, which means that by early July something should happen on this front," the Palestinian leader said without specifying a date for the renewal of negotiations.
Abbas arrived at the Egyptian capital following his meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington.
He said they had discussed the principles of the negotiation process as well as the Israeli settlements, which he claimed harm the process. Obama said following the meeting that Israel must halt all settlement activity and that the Palestinian and Arab sides must honor their commitments towards Israel.
During a press conference following the meeting with Abbas, the US president said he was confident Israel would understand the two-state solution was in its own best interest.
He also said he would refrain from sketching an "artificial timetable" for the establishment of a Palestinian state, but stressed that there was no time to waste.
Hamas on Friday expressed its disappointment with the results of the meeting, saying that "nothing new came of it."
Spokesman Fawzi Barhoum said the Islamist group was particularly discouraged by the fact that during the meeting Abbas gave his consent to the implementation of the US-backed Road Map for peace, which according to him "will turn the Palestinian Authority into an armed wing of Israel that will eventually annihilate the resistance groups and perpetuate the internal Palestinian rift."
