The Palestinian government has set four conditions regarding its participation in a U.S.-sponsored conference expected to take place next week in the city of Annapolis near Washington.
Information Minister Riad Al-Malki, who also serves as the government spokesman, told reporters after the weekly meting of cabinet that his government demanded Israeli guarantees before taking part in the high-profile conference.
According to Al-Malki, these guarantees include Israeli adherence to the Road Map peace plan, immediate cessation of settlement expansion and dissolving all random ones, reopening the Palestinian Authority’s institutions in Jerusalem, and removing all checkpoints scattered across the territories.
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The Road Map calls for a full Israeli pullout to the pre-1967 borders to pave the way for the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Malki said that the Palestinian Authority government had started implementing the second phase of the security plan aimed at restoring order in the Palestinian cities, as well as strengthening the judiciary.
Meanwhile, Palestinian sources revealed that the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas had failed, during their meeting yesterday in Jerusalem, to reach a joint declaration of principles to be presented at the conference.
During the meeting the sources said the two leaders managed to solve several obstacles facing the efforts to forge the deal, and announced another meeting to be held between the sides negotiating teams later today (Tuesday).
In other developments, the Palestinian factions called on ‘Abbas not to accept the Israeli demand of the Palestinians to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
Such recognition, they said, would mean dropping the Palestinian refugees’ right of return that Israel is strongly opposing for fear they would eventually outnumber the Jewish majority.
Several faction leaders indicated that Israel’s insistence now on being recognized as Jewish in nature was nothing more than a last-minute effort to undermine preparations for the conference.
Prime Minister Olmert is heading for Egypt on Tuesday to meet with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The leaders will be coordinating their positions ahead of the Annapolis summit next week. Also, Olmert wants Mubarak to help secure a high-level participation of Arab representatives at the summit.
Foreign ministers of Arab League members are scheduled to meet in Cairo on Friday to decide on their level of participation at the summit, if at all.
Some key Arab states intend to send ambassador-level delegates and not heads of state, Palestinian sources told the London-based Al-Quds Al-‘Arabi.
Israel’s security services have been put on high alert ahead of the Annapolis summit, fearing that Palestinian terror organizations will attempt large-scale terror attacks over the next week, in order to foil the conference.
An Israeli was gunned down and killed in a terror attack near Qedumim, an Israeli community in post-1967 Israel on Monday night.
A branch of the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aq’sa Martyrs Brigades took responsibility for the attack.