After Meeting with Mitchell, Moussa Says: No Direct Talks With Israel Without Written Guarantees

After Meeting with Mitchell, Moussa Says:

No Direct Talks With Israel Without Written Guarantees

Moussa: No direct talks without written guarantees

Published yesterday (updated) 19/07/2010 11:14

Bethlehem – Ma’an –

After his meeting with US mediator George Mitchell on Sunday, Arab League Secretary-General, Amr Moussa, affirmed that Palestinians cannot enter direct talks with Israel without written guarantees.

Moussa told reporters that “moving from proximity talks into direct ones without any confirmation or guarantee on Israel’s seriousness means that we have entered into crisis management and not solving the crisis.”

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak held separate talks Sunday with President Mahmoud Abbas, Mitchell, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss a possible return to direct talks.

There have been no direct talks since Israel launched its winter assault on Gaza in December 2008. Current talks mark the sixth round of indirect talks mediated by Mitchell.

Earlier this month, Moussa expressed his frustration at the lack of progress in proximity talks, describing them as “a comprehensive failure.”

Abbas has said he will not proceed to direct talks unless progress is made on the focal Palestinian issues of borders and security.

Mubarak Holds Separate Meetings With Abbas, Mitchell, and Netanyahu

Monday July 19, 2010 04:01 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Egyptian President, Hosni Mubarak, held separate meetings in Cairo with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, U.S Middle East Envoy, George Mitchell, and the Israeli occupation government prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The talks were focused on the efforts to advance proximity talks into direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Mitchell arrived in Cairo on Sunday before noon after concluding a meeting in Jerusalem with Netanyahu.

Mubarak received a letter from Obama confirming his persistence to pursue the peace process in order to establish an independent Palestinian state.

Mubarak also received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State, Hilary Clinton, also confirming the American seriousness in achieving a comprehensive peace in the region.

On his side, Mubarak said that Cairo will continue its efforts to reduce the gap between the Palestinian and Israeli stances in order to advance to direct talks between the two parties.

Later on Sunday, President Abbas arrived in Cairo and held a meeting with Mubarak and left Cairo without making any statement.

On Saturday, Abbas held a meeting with Egypt’s Security Chief, Omar Suleiman, and with the Arab League Secretary-General, Amro Moussa. Suleiman is in charge of the Palestinian-Israeli file.

On Sunday afternoon, Mubarak met Netanyahu in an attempt to bridge the gap between the Israeli and Palestinian stances.

Furthermore, Moussa held a meeting with Mitchell to discuss the proposal that would be submitted to the Arab Peace Initiative during its July 20th meeting in Cairo.

Abbas will be participating in the meeting which will discuss the possibility of moving towards direct talks with Israel.

The Obama administration hopes that direct talks could be started before September 26 the date Israel set for ending its so-called 10-month “freeze” on settlement activities in the occupied West Bank.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.