Abbas wants US assurances before direct talks
Palestinian president tells Fatah movement will not go into direct negotiations with Israel 'like blind people', wants guarantees on borders of future of Palestinian state
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told his Fatah movement he wants a more specific US commitment on the borders of a future Palestinian state before agreeing to direct talks with Israel, an adviser said Wednesday.
Abbas told Fatah leaders in a closed-door meeting late Tuesday that President Barack Obama's assurances so far aren't clear enough.
Obama has urged Abbas to resume direct talks that broke off in December 2008.
However, Abbas first wants guarantees that a state will be established in the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem, allowing for minor border adjustments.
"We expect huge pressure and hard days, but we will not go to negotiations like blind people and we will resist that (the pressure) peacefully," Abbas was quoted as telling Fatah leaders.
Abbas' comments were published Wednesday in a Palestinian daily, and confirmed by Abbas adviser Sabri Saidam, who was present at the meeting.
The Palestinian leader said Obama's assurances concerning the negotiations were delivered last week by US Mideast envoy George Mitchell. Abbas was quoted as saying the US president was less specific in defining what constitutes occupied Palestinian territory than the previous US administration.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he wants to move to direct talks immediately, but refuses to agree to a framework for the negotiations. Palestinians are reluctant to engage with Netanyahu, who has retreated from some of the positions of his predecessors.
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