Tel Aviv, Asharq Al-Awsat- Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat yesterday, a high-ranking Palestinian source disclosed that Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas showed great anger at the Israeli government and expressed near despair about the negotiations with it when he met with George Mitchell, envoy of US President Barack Obama. Abbas told Mitchell: "This war, which targeted the entire Palestinian people, absolutely demonstrated that Israel's aim is war, not peace."
The source said that, during Abbas's meeting with Mitchell in Ramallah on Thursday, Abbas presented to Mitchell a gloomy picture of the situation in the region that was a surprise to the US official.
Abbas told Mitchell: Israel has backed down on the Oslo agreements that were signed in Washington since the assassination of former Prime Minister Yitzhaq Rabin. He added: All the governments that succeeded Rabin looked for a way to evade the Oslo program and not only move away from its ultimate goal of establishing a Palestinian state, but also back down on what was agreed upon and what was implemented from that program.
According to the same source, Abbas went on to say: Israel carried out its largest settlement operations in this period, and as negotiations progressed, the settlement activity progressed further. The pace of the settlement activity quickened after the Annapolis conference, and its aim was to undermine the basis of the peace process and weaken the Palestinian forces that support this process.
http://www.asharqalawsat.com/english/news.asp?section=1&id=15580
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