Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that it is
time to create an independent Palestinian statehood existing
alongside Israel to end 60 years of suffering.
Abbas made the remarks during a joint news conference with
visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in West Bank city
of Ramallah after their meeting.
He reiterated that Jerusalem should be the capital of the future
statehood.
Rice, who arrived in Ramallah earlier in the day for talks with
Palestinian leadership, is on her latest Mideast tour to prepare
for a US-sponsored peace conference that is initially set for
November where the yet-unspecified conferees will discus resumption
of Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
During their meeting, Abbas and Rice focused their discussion on
how to make November peace conference successful.
"The conference should be a serious beginning leading to ending
the Israeli occupation which has been in place since the 1967
according to the international resolutions," Abbas underlined.
In addition, the Palestinian leader also briefed Rice on his
serious efforts "to reach a framework of agreement to apply
solution to final status issues" including the Palestinian borders,
Jerusalem, and the refugees.
To agree on this, Abbas said he has been meeting Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert on the hope of "reaching a deal, including a
timetable, to apply to the final solutions."
For her part, Rice promised to work very hard with Abbas and
Olmert "to lay the groundwork for a successful meeting" in November
that will advance "the cause of a Palestinian state."
Rice also supported the formation of joint Israeli-Palestinian
committees to try to reach a deal ahead of the conference, saying
any such agreement will be of great importance for the
gathering.
Abbas said he will meet President George W. Bush when attending
the UN General Assembly annual meetings, which is to start on
September 25, "to continue intensive talks to reach a just and
lasting peace in the Middle East."
In July, Bush proposed to hold a peace conference in the US this
fall to find a way to resume the stalled peace process and end the
Middle East conflict between the Arabs and Israel.
Abbas slammed an Israeli decision to declare the Hamas-run Gaza
Strip a "hostile entity" due to the continued rocket attacks on
southern Israel.
"This raises our condemnation and such a term (hostile entity)
holds a dangerous political meaning," he said.
Meanwhile, he also called on immediate suspension of Israeli
actions in the Gaza Strip and West Bank, especially building the
settlements, the West Bank barrier and the daily ground operations
in West Bank cities.
"All of these form a big source of worry to us and would bring
negative effects on the security and stability," Abbas warned,
highlighting the necessity to lift the closure and blockade on the
territories, basically the Gaza Strip.
(Xinhua News Agency September 21, 2007)
