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'Desperation.' Fayyad
Photo: AP

Palestinian PM: Palestinian issues sparking unrest

In Paris, Fayyad says protestors in Arab world 'frustrated over failed efforts to solve Palestinian problem. French FM says, 'We're willing to host peace conference is it includes political dimension, beyond financial and economic aid'

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said Thursday that the failure to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has helped fuel unrest in Egypt and elsewhere in the Mideast.

 

During a visit to Paris, Fayyad said protesters' complaints stem not only from internal problems in their own societies, but also from "a frustration, a desperation because of the failure of efforts to solve the Palestinian problem."

 

Fayyad spoke during a news conference with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon. Later Thursday, Fayyad is scheduled to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy and to attend dinner talks on a follow up conference to a 2007 donor event in Paris that raised $7.7 billion in Palestinian aid pledges.

 

Fillon said France would be willing to host a new conference in June on the condition it includes a "political dimension, beyond financial and economic aid," - a major step on the road to the creation of a Palestinian state in 2011, he added.

 

Fayyad's visit, which ends Friday, came amid continuing clashes in central Cairo between anti-government protesters and backers of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

 

Mubarak has been a major player in the Mideast peace process. He is considered Israel's bridge to the Arab world, and has also been a mediator in talks with the Palestinians. Some observers fear the flux in Egypt could damage efforts to create a Palestinian state.

 

Israel's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has only recently accepted the idea of an independent Palestinian state next to Israel.

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.03.11, 19:36
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