'Authority must carry out obligations'
Mofaz tells U.S. government officials Abbas not doing enough to fight terror and implement reforms
"There is a large gap between the declarations and the situation on the ground," Mofaz said, referring to the Authority's reforms and its war on terror.
His comments came during a series of meetings in Washington with U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and Vice President Dick Cheney.
Mofaz informed the U.S. officials of a severe lack of cooperation by the Palestinian intelligence, saying the problem has caused Israel to postpone the transfer of other Palestinian cities to the Authority's security control.
As long as the Authority refrains from carryout its obligations according to the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement, there will be no more transfers of Palestinian cities, he said.
So far, the West Bank towns of Jericho and Tul Karm have been handed over to Palestinian Authority control.
"We gave the Authority a list of 17 wanted suspects in Jericho and 35 wanted suspects in Tul Karm, in order for the suspects to disarm...and stop activities in the terror organizations,"Mofaz said, adding that the Authority did nothing with the list.
Mofaz is scheduled to also meet with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs Steve Hadley.
'Diplomatic channel is the correct channel'
Regarding the Iranian nuclear threat, Mofaz said Israel accepts the notion that "the diplomatic channel is the correct channel in order to curb Iran's desire to equip with nuclear weapons."
However, he did express doubt of whether recent diplomatic talks between Europe and Iran would lead to a solution to the Iranian threat.
"In the end the matter will reach the Security Council (of the United Nations)," Mofaz said.
Hamas drops call for Greater Palestine
However, according to the London-based al-Quds newspaper, Abbas has reached a historic understanding to incorporate Hamas into the Palestinian Liberation Oraganization (PLO) in exchange for relinquishing its vision of liberating the whole of Palestine.
According to the agreement, Hamas will recognized the PLO as the only legitimate Palestinian organization.
In addition, Hamas has agreed in principle to a series of far-reaching concessions, primarily the acceptance of the PLO’s current political platform, which is based on the founding of a Palestinian state according to the 1967 borders.
Accepting the report would mean the movement has abandoned its primary demand, namely, the liberation of Greater Palestine.
Despite the agreement, however, Hamas reserves the right to return to its original demand in the future.
