Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians are not bearing fruit, but Arab leaders are not yet ready to recommend abandoning them, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Friday. He said Arab foreign ministers meeting in the Libyan town of Sirte would begin drafting alternatives for the peace process because the current round of talks had stalled.
"We will meet to formulate the beginning of alternatives within the framework that the negotiations are not bearing fruit," Moussa said after a meeting of the Arab League's peace process follow-up committee in Libya. "There are no talks at the moment because the position of the Israelis is very, very negative. They are not co-operating in the negotiations," Moussa said. The committee would meet the Palestinian delegation on Friday night but would not advise Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas what he should do next, Moussa said.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said Abbas told US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in a telephone conversation on Thursday that "Israel must fully stop settlement activities so that the peace process can succeed". "The Americans told us that they are continuing with their efforts with Israeli government. We are waiting to see the result of these efforts," Abu Rdainah added. Launched in Washington on September 2, the talks veered into a dead end on September 26 when Netanyahu refused to extend the 10-month halt to settlement he announced last November. Abbas has said he wants to go on negotiating but cannot unless the building of new homes for Jewish settlers is frozen for "three to four months more to give peace a chance".
Abbas is expected to win full Arab League backing for refusing to continue talks begun five weeks ago in Washington until Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu extends a moratorium on Jewish settlement-building in the occupied West Bank.There was no comment from Israel on Moussa's remarks as the sabbath closed down official business for the weekend. "The Palestinians waited nine months and more" to agree to direct talks," Netanyahu said on Thursday. Then they broke a promise by "putting forth preconditions" right at the start.
Comments
Comments are closed.