Fayyad backtracking? 'We won’t declare independence'
Palestinian PM, who recently presented plan for establishment of state, says, 'We'll be ready as far as government institutions are concerned'; calls for 'massive' US intervention in peace process
Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Sunday that a Palestinian state will not be declared by August 2011, adding that "as far as government institutions are concerned, we will be prepared for the establishment of a Palestinian state."
Fayyad recently presented a two-year plan for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian PM has stated a number of times in the past that in case the negotiations with Israel continue to advance at a slow pace he would promote unilateral state-building measures and work towards getting the UN Security Council's recognition of an independent Palestinian state.
Speaking to Al Hurra, a US-based satellite TV channel ahead of the launching of indirect talks with Israel, Fayyad criticized the government in Jerusalem, saying it is disrupting the work of Palestinian security forces in the West Bank.
"According to the agreements and understandings, Israel is obligated to allow the security forces to operate in the West Bank territories and avoid raiding territories that are under the security forces' supervision, but the Israelis are not respecting (the understandings) and are continuing to thwart our efforts," he said.
"Israel has not lived up to all of its obligations since the Annapolis Conference (2007)," he said.
Fayyad stressed that "massive" US intervention was required to ensure that the negotiations will succeed, and said that Israel is continuing to build on lands which are designated for the future Palestinian state, particularly in east Jerusalem.
Fayyad told Ynet that the two-year program he announced in August did not include a declaration of a Palestinian state. "The two-year plan I spoke of addressed preparation towards the establishment of a state within two years, however no declaration of state was mentioned at that time."
Sources close to Fayyad said that the media confused the plan to prepare PA institutions for a state within two years, and the actual declaration of an independent state.
