Erekat: PA might collapse if peace agreement is not reached in 2008

Date: 20 / 03 / 2008 Time: 09:51
Jerusalem – Ma'an –

The Palestine Liberation Organization's chief negotiator Saeb Erekat warned that the Palestinian Authority (PA) might collapse if a peace agreement with Israel is not reached in 2008, the Palestinian daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida reported on Wednesday.

"If a peace agreement is not reached in 2008, we could disappear, and the repercussions will expand to the whole region," Erekat told journalists.

Erekat highlighted that the popularity of Fatah and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has dropped recently because no progress has been made in the peace talks, as was revealed in a recent poll.

"People are disappointed in us, and the explanation for that is our failure to fulfill what we promised," he added.

He added that Israel's stubbornness and refusal to remove military checkpoints and halt settlement activity in the West Bank has helped reduce the credibility of Abbas and the PA amongst the Palestinian people.

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