Israel and the Palestinians have agreed to start drafting sections of a proposed peace accord that address the main issues of their conflict, the chief Palestinian negotiator said.
Ahmed Qureia, the veteran negotiator heading the Palestinian team, made it clear the decision did not necessarily reflect agreement on the major issues that have tormented peace talks for years — final borders, the status of disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees. But this would be the first time since negotiations resumed more than six months ago that anything on these divisive questions would be put to paper.
“We agreed with the Israelis to begin writing the positions,” Qureia told reporters late on Friday.
He did not say what issue the two sides would start with.
Israeli government officials declined to comment.
Should negotiators reach agreement on an issue, they will then draft a single provision, Qureia said. If not, they will lay out on paper their divergent views, he added. On Saturday, he said negotiations were “going through a difficult period” because of tense discussions on Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees.
Israel and the Palestinians resumed peace talks in late November at a US-sponsored conference in Annapolis, Maryland. Continued Israeli settlement construction and Israeli security concerns have clouded negotiations, and both sides have expressed doubt about achieving the declared goal of clinching a final accord by the end of the year.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is headed to the region next week to try to push negotiations forward.
Qureia did not explain why the two sides agreed at this point to begin addressing the core issues in writing. But the decision comes as Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s political survival has been thrust into question over suspicions he accepted illicit cash payments, in part to fuel a luxurious lifestyle.
Israeli legislator Avigdor Lieberman, who takes a hard line on the Palestinians, accused Olmert of trying to maintain his grasp on power by creating an impression of progress in peacemaking.
“This is political opportunism for the purpose of survival, it is not a serious diplomatic agreement that has received consideration,” the Web site of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper quoted him on Saturday as saying.
Should Olmert’s legal woes push Israel into early elections, polls show former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who opposes major territorial concessions to the Palestinians, likely to become Israel’s next prime minister.
Positions drafted during previous rounds of peace talks have not always been preserved for future negotiators.
Qureia also confirmed earlier reports that Israeli negotiators have offered the Palestinians land in exchange for territory where major West Bank settlements stand, but he termed their offer “unacceptable.”
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long
RSS