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Abbas: Peace deal with Israel within year
(AP)
Updated: 2006-03-24 17:16
JERUSALEM - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called for secret
negotiations with Israel and predicted that such talks could produce a peace
agreement within a year, according to an interview published in the Israeli
Haaretz daily Friday.
Abbas said that despite the pending formation of a
Palestinian government led by Hamas, which calls for the destruction of Israel,
there is still a strong chance for a peace deal. Abbas said peace talks would be
conducted by the Palestine Liberation Organization, an umbrella for Palestinian
factions that does not include Hamas.
"We are in a historic period in
which we must decide whether we will move toward peace and a better future for
our children. I can promise you that you have a partner for this peace," Abbas
told the newspaper.
Since Hamas won January 25 Palestinian parliamentary
elections, Israel has shunned the Palestinian Authority, demanding that the
Islamic militant group renounce violence and recognize Israel's right to exist.
Hamas has refused the demands.
In the run-up to Israel's elections next
Tuesday, acting Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said that he intended to pull
out of many of Israel's West Bank settlements, strengthen its control over the
major settlement blocs and set Israel's final borders by 2010.
Olmert
said he preferred to achieve this through negotiations, but will do it
unilaterally if that fails.
Abbas told Haaretz that Olmert's unilateral
plan might bring a temporary truce, "but it will not bring you peace."
Abbas said that he proposed to former Prime Minister Shimon Peres and to
the Americans to open secret, back channel discussions to resolve the conflict.
"I am convinced that within less than a year we will be able to sign an
agreement," he said.
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