Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said in Cairo yesterday that it was
time for the Palestinians and Israel to start negotiations through "an
unannounced but not secret channel" given an upcoming Mideast visit by US
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Abbas, who arrived in Cairo on Tuesday night for talks with Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak, said the Palestinian side has flowed the idea of
behind-the-door negotiations with Israel for a while.
He said it is time to activate this issue and start serious talks about the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict since Rice is expected to visit the region
including Egypt in mid-January.
Such negotiations, aimed at discussing final status of the conflict between
the two sides, can be conducted with the presence of either one member of the
International Quartet on the Middle East or all the four Quartet members, said
Abbas.
The Quartet, grouping the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the
European Union, has been a major mediator between the Palestinians and Israel.
Meanwhile, Abbas added that he had presented this idea during a two-hour
meeting on Dec. 23 with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who promised to
study it.
Abbas said the outcome of his meeting with Olmert was the main topic for his
talks with Mubarak, whose country is also a major mediator between the
Palestinians and Israel, according to Egypt's official news agency MENA.
Abbas, speaking to reporters after meeting Mubarak, said their talks also
dealt with the latest developments on the Palestinian arena and future steps to
push the stalled peace march forward.
On the release of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, Abbas said the
problem is that the Israeli side linked the issue to the release of Israeli
soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by Palestinian militants since June 25,
said MENA.
Abbas said Olmert promised him to free some of the Palestinian prisoners
before the three-day Islamic festival Eid al-Adha (or Greater Bairam), which
falls on Dec. 31.
Abbas, meanwhile, insisted that he won't change his stance on calling for
early presidential and legislative elections on the Palestinian territories.
"We want a national unity government that works for breaking the siege and
putting into effect the national reconciliation document," he said.
