Monday, October 29, 2007

PM: PA aware timetable not on agenda

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announced that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had been made aware of the fact that a specific timetable for the management of negotiations following the Middle East peace conference scheduled in Annapolis later his year will not be fixed, Israel Radio reported.

Comment: And your point is what Mr. Olmert? The political points you want-spell them out to us. "We will move on to negotiations with the aim of settling all the issues so that a Palestinian state can be established securely next to Israel," Olmert told the cabinet on Sunday.
"The Palestinian state will be the homeland for the Palestinian people just as the state of Israel is the homeland of the Jewish people," said Olmert.
The prime minister added that when Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement in the future, its implementation will rely entirely on the realization of the 'Road Map.'
Meanwhile, the head of the Palestinian negotiating team, Ahmed Qurei [Abu Ala], who participated in a Meretz committee meeting, said that despite the suffering of the Palestinians, they were eager for peace.
"Our hands are stretching out for peace and our hearts are open despite the suffering. I came to express the hope of my people that peace is still possible. The pain and suffering will not take [away] our hope for peace, and we are steadfast to arrive at an honest and co-existing peace," Ala told Meretz members at the Tel Aviv meeting.
The former PA prime minister also emphasized the importance of the peace summit, planned for November or December, saying that it will lay out the ground works for successful talks and the "character of peace." Ala, contrary to Olmert's announcement, called for a clear timetable to be set for the process.

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