Palestinian ex-PM against immediate resumption of talks with Israel

[Kshasty]

Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei said on Monday it would be a blunder to resume negotiations with Israel on the Middle East settlement in the present context.

"Many call for the immediate resumption of Palestinian-Israeli talks, including our Russian friends. But it is needed to ask ourselves: have the proper conditions for the resumption of such negotiations been created?" Ahmed Qurei, who had led Palestinian negotiators for years, told an international conference headlined "Middle East 2020: Is the Comprehensive Settlement Possible?" in Jordan.

The conference, organized by Russian News & Information Agency RIA Novosti and the Russian Council for Foreign and Defense Policy within the framework of the Valdai International Discussion Club, is discussing the Middle East settlement, global energy security, the strengthening the Non-proliferation regime, and a range of other international issues.

The former Palestinian prime minister said the Palestinian-Israeli talks, if resumed amid the present situation, would be "just a guise for the implementation of the Israeli unilateral plan," aimed at maintaining the present situation in the region and the further occupation of Palestinian territories.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20091221/157315210.html

[Jim Sagle]

1. No sense rushing into these things.

;)