International News
Abbas meets Mitchell tomorrow
Posted on: Tue May 18, 2010
International Highlights
RAMALLAH: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to meet US envoy George Mitchell on Wednesday to discuss final-status issues in indirect peace talks with Israel, the chief Palestinian negotiator said.
Mitchell will then meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday, an Israeli official told AFP on condition of anonymity. The discussions between Abbas and Mitchell on Wednesday will concern final-status issues with Israel, head Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat told AFP, referring to core disputes in the decades-old conflict such as Al-Quds and Palestinian refugees.
For now we will focus on the issues of borders and security in order to demarcate two states along the 1967 border, he added. He warned however that continued Israeli settlement activity, including in annexed east Al-Quds, could scupper the talks.
The Israeli side has just two options, either peace or the continuation of the settlements. Israel cannot have both at the same time, he said. US officials have said Mitchell is expected in the region this week but they have not yet said when he would arrive or released details about his schedule.
Mitchell left the region a week ago after convincing Israel and the Palestinians to launch an initial round of US-mediated proximity talks. The indirect negotiations were first agreed on in March but the initiative collapsed within days when Israel announced plans to build 1,600 settler homes in east Al-Quds during a visit by US Vice President Joe Biden.
The Palestinians eventually agreed to the talks after receiving US assurances that the project would be frozen. Israel, which captured east Al-Quds in the 1967 Six-Day war and later annexed it, considers the Holy City its eternal and indivisible capital, a claim not recognised by the international community. The Palestinians have always demanded mostly Arab east Al-Quds as the capital of their promised state.
Courtesy : The News