The Fatah movement of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday accused US President George W Bush of violating United Nations resolution 194 on the return of Palestinian refugees and the payment to them of compensation.
According to Azzam al-Ahmad, the chief of the Fatah parliamentary bloc, Bush has offered just to compensate the refugees. "The resolution must be dealt with completely and without dividing it," al-Ahmad told the London-based Asharq al-Awssat newspaper.
Al-Ahmad says a similar offer was rejected by late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat during the 2000 peace talks in Camp David with the presence of former US president Bill Clinton and then Israeli premier Ehud Barak.
STATEHOOD: Meanwhile, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat on Saturday ruled out announcing Palestinian statehood in 2008. "In 2008, we expect a peace deal specifying the core final-status issues and how to begin dealing with them," Erekat told reporters.
The PA, which renewed peace talks with Israel last month, is counting on a US role in pushing the slow negotiations. "The success to reach such a deal is subject to the Israeli government's capability to stop the settlement buildings, remove checkpoints, stop the offensive and engage in serious negotiations," Erekat said.
According to Erekat, US President Bush announced the activation of a US, Israeli and Palestinian committee to oversee the implementation of the peace plan which ends with a Palestinian state alongside Israel.
Israel and the PA launched peace negotiations on December 12 after participating in a US hosted peace conference in late November. The Palestinians were hoping to announce their statehood this year. In other news, Palestinian militants on Saturday fired several missiles at Israeli targets near the border with the Gaza Strip.