Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
International
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Abbas resists U.S. pressure to resume peace talks
Wed Nov 11, 2009 1:20pm EST
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Mohammed Assadi
RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - The Palestinian president on Wednesday resisted U.S. pressure for a resumption of peace talks with Israel, repeating his demand for a complete halt to West Bank settlement building before negotiations.
Mahmoud Abbas also offered no clarity over his own political future by saying he did not want to talk again about his declared wish not to run for a second term as president of the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.
Abbas's announcement last week that he did not want to stand again for the post reflected his anger with the United States over what Palestinians see as its failure to put pressure on Israel to halt settlement building in the West Bank.
Addressing a rally to mark the fifth anniversary of the death of Yasser Arafat, Abbas said that for peace talks to resume, Israel must recognize the terms of reference.
"We cannot go to negotiations without a framework. And we say the framework is U.N. resolutions, meaning a return to the 1967 borders," Abbas said, referring to Israel's borders on the eve of the conflict that changed the map of the Middle East.
"Also, we want a full stop to settlements, including natural growth and in Jerusalem," the 74-year-old leader said.
"Without that, I won't accept. I won't accept," he said, to cheers from a crowd of thousands waving a sea of flags. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has urged Abbas to begin talks without any conditions, a position now supported by U.S. President Barack Obama, who had at first insisted on a freeze on Israeli settlements.
Netanyahu has ruled out going beyond a partial limitation on settlement building in areas of the occupied West Bank not annexed by Israel to its Jerusalem municipality, and Obama has backtracked to calling for "restraint" on the activity.
In talks on Monday in Washington, an Israeli official said Obama and Netanyahu "spoke about concrete moves on the Palestinian track in the near future."
White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel told U.S. Jewish leaders on Tuesday that Israeli-Palestinian talks, suspended since December, should get under way "without preconditions."
"No one should allow the issue of settlements to distract from the goal of a lasting peace between Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab world," Emanuel said.
Netanyahu was meeting French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday for talks that will include current peace prospects.
ISRAEL "DISFIGURES" TWO-STATE VISION
Palestinians say the settlements which pepper the West Bank destroy the possibility of setting up a viable state. Abbas said Israel was "disfiguring" the two-state solution. "They are putting obstacles in its way. They are trying to remove this concept. What do they want?," he said.
Abbas has built his political career around negotiating a peace deal with Israel. But talks have been suspended since December when Israel launched an offensive in Gaza, which is ruled by Abbas's rivals in the Hamas movement. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Ahmadinejad suggests Iran role in atom fuel bank
also on reuters
Full Coverage: The Route to Recovery
Blog: The legacy of Arlington’s Section 60
Video
Video: Millions of Brazilians in the dark after power outage
More World News
Ahmadinejad suggests Iran role in atom fuel bank
NATO expects more resources for Afghan training
Blackout raises doubts over Brazil infrastructure
| Video
Pakistanis pay high price for anti-militant drive
Karadzic seeking appeal to remove appointed counsel
More World News...
Related News
SCENARIOS: Outlook for Palestinians' muddled politics
12:17pm EST
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Sniper who terrorized Washington area is executed
Blackout raises doubts over Brazil infrastructure | Video
EXCLUSIVE: AIG CEO defends holiday, slams "lynch mob" attacks
Zucker to head new NBCU-Comcast venture: sources
A Morgan Stanley star falls in China
Eager fans greet "Call of Duty" launch | Video
Geithner wants strong dollar, will tackle deficit
Mini-dress student readmitted to university | Video
Ahmadinejad serves up bitter-sweet world view
Student expelled after row over short dress
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
Mini-dress drama in brazil
Monkey waiters in Japan
Obama vows "justice" for shooter
Women's soccer turns nasty
Millions of Brazilians in the dark
Exhibit turns spotlight on sex trade
Boston woman's near miss on subway
Deadly car bomb in Pakistan
Obama brother talks of China life
Iraqis terrorised by child kidnaps
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Journalism Handbook |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.