Abed Rabu: Israel using ruses to obstruct peace process

16 October 2007

by Rasheed Hilal

Yaser Abed Rabu, Secretary General of the Executive Committee of Palestine Liberation Organization and member of the Palestinian negotiating team, said on Tuesday that Israel is obstructing progress in current political efforts by escalating their military operations in the West Bank

The Israeli invasion of the city of Nablus at dawn on Tuesday, during which two Palestinians were killed, was ,he said, aimed at undermining the security plans being drawn up by the Palestinian government for the city.

Abed Rabu added that "Prime Minister Dr Salam Fayyad was in Jericho yesterday to inspect the forces which are in charge of security in Nablus. Today the Israelis want to obstruct the role of the prime minister, the government and the Authority."

He believes that Israel is using all kinds of ruses to obstruct the November peace conference.

With regard to the meeting between the two delegations held on Monday, Abed Rabu said "I cannot give any further details because it is a very difficult and long process, as it tackles the root issue of ending the occupation in every bit of Palestinian land."

Abed Rabu described the story that Ahmad Quria, head of the Palestinian delegation, had threatened to quit if Israel continues with its arrogant stance, as nonsense.

Dr Saeb E'riekat, coordinator of the Palestinian delegation has also strongly condemned the latest Israeli attacks on the city of Nablus and the house demolitions in the northern city of Qalqilia. He said that " Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, is making big efforts and we appreciate this, especially when she says she wants a conference with content and not one that is just a photo opportunity. On the ground, however, we find arrests, invasions, assassinations, house demolitions, checkpoints and closures - this is the reality. These actions negate the efforts that were made in order to launch the peace process."

Dr Eirekat said that the Israeli government should realize that settlements and peace are on parallel paths which will not meet. He demanded that the US administration, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations intervene quickly to stop these activities.

He also said that up to now the Palestinian side had not received an invitation to the November conference, which was an indication of the intense work being done by the Palestinian, American and Israeli delgations. A meeting between President Mahamoud Abbas and US Secretary of State Rice is to be held tomorrow in a bid to agree a document that would specify the main issues of the final status agreement.