Abbas: We may seek UN recognition

Published yesterday (updated) 29/10/2010 14:10

RAMALLAH (Ma'an) --

President Mahmoud Abbas said Thursday that he would consider asking the UN to recognize a Palestinian state.

Speaking in Ramallah after a news conference with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Ghait, Abbas said the move, one of "seven options," could come within months.

“Among these options is to demand that the United States take a stance on recognizing a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders and the possibility of going to the UN Security Council,” Abbas told reporters.

But Abbas said the priority was returning to direct talks under US sponsorship. "Our options are consecutive. The first is to return to direct talks in the event Israel stops all settlement building," Abbas said.

"Consultations are being carried out to stop (illegal Israeli) settlements, and if they want us to return to direct talks, it's well known that Israel just issued a large number of building orders in the settlements," he said.

Israel is building again not only in Jerusalem but the West Bank as well, Abbas noted calling the continuation "unacceptable, and we won't accept it under any circumstances."

Peace talks, relaunched in Washington in September, reached a deadlock within weeks over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's refusal to extend restrictions on settlement building.

Despite pleas from the international community -- including the US, UN and EU -- full-scale construction resumed as the freeze expired on 26 September.

At an Arab League summit in Sirt, Libya, earlier this month, Arab leaders opted to give the US one month to resolve the crisis, after which they would reconvene to discuss alternatives to negotiations.

Concerning Netanyahu's stance against Palestinian "unilateralism," Abbas said, "I wonder what he means by that. Just that we'll go to the Security Council after a few months? Israel has been violating international resolutions for decades. ... And Israel has implemented unilateral acts for decades."

He added: "Netanyahu says that Palestinians should implement their commitments under the Road Map. We say, 'Try us. Let's see if he can come up with any commitment we did not implement. Then, let's see if Israel has implemented any single one of its commitments.

Abul Ghait, the Egyptian minister, reiterated Cairo's support for Abbas and said that Egypt was carrying out talks with Israel to get the country to reconsider its position on (illegal Israeli) settlements at least until talks restart.

He said the PLO stance against talks amid (illegal Israeli) settlement expansion reflected that of the Arab world.

Bardawil: We hope to see Egypt support the Palestinian position against Israel

[ 28/10/2010 - 02:26 PM ]

GAZA, (PIC)--

Senior Hamas official and lawmaker Salah Al-Bardawil expressed his Movement's hope that the visit paid by Egypt's foreign minister and intelligence director to Ramallah city and Jordan would aim at supporting the Palestinian position in the face of the Israeli occupation.

"What we hope that the Arabs and Egypt in particular would have positions in support of the Palestinian one, especially since the enemy does not target the Palestinians alone, but also the whole Arab nation, particularly Egypt," Bardawil said in a press statement to Quds Press on Thursday.

Official media outlets in Egypt reported that Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak designated his foreign minister Ahmed Abu Al-Gheit and intelligence director Omar Suleiman to hand two messages, one to the Jordanian king and the other to the de facto president of the Palestinian authority.

The letters are related to Egypt's assessment of the situation in the region and the negotiation process as well as the issue of the national reconciliation in the Palestinian arena.