Tough words over security barrier
Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia has threatened to pull out of further peace negotiations, if Israel refuses to end the construction of the security fence in the West Bank.
Mr Qureia travelled to neighbouring Jordan for a meeting with US envoy William Burns on Saturday for talks on how to reset in train the stalled “road map” for peace in the Middle East.
The premier will hold talks with King Abdullah on Sunday, who plans to visit Washington next week.
Mr Qureia said he would hold talks with his Israeli counterpart, if Ariel Sharon publicly agreed to end construction of the barrier.
Mr Qureia was expected to inform Mr Burns that he was optimistic of persuading Palestinian militants to halt attacks on Israel, ahead of talks beginning Tuesday in Cairo, Egypt.
Israel says the security fence is necessary to protect its people from Palestinian suicide bombs attacks. But Palestinians say the fence is a tactic to extend Israel’s territorial reach.
Mr Qureia’s chief of staff, Hassan Abu Libdeh, and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat are due to talks with Dov Weisglass, a senior aide to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, on Sunday.
The US envoy said Palestinians must end the “terror and violence” committed against Israel, but added Israelis must likewise “end the daily humiliation of the Palestinian people and rebuild trust.”
Mr Qureia said he desired productive talks with “good and earnest results for both sides, but it would not enter into “sugar-coated” negotiations.
Separately, the Palestine National Council yesterday called on the UN Security Council to impose sanctions on Israel over the security wall.
The PNC said the Israeli wall would “swallow up whatever is left of Palestinian lands, forces another mass exodus and end any future possibility for establishing a durable and sovereign Palestinian state.”
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Friday that Israel had failed to comply with a General Assembly call to halt construction of the barrier.
