Sirte (Libya), March 28: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas ruled out US-brokered indirect talks with Israel unless the Jewish state changes its settlement policy, in a speech to Arab leaders today.
“We cannot resume indirect negotiations as long as Israel maintains its settlement policy and the status quo,” Abbas said at the opening of a two-day Arab summit in the Libyan city of Sirte.
Abbas demanded a “complete halt to all Israeli practices,” particularly in annexed east Jerusalem, the sector which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.
“Negotiations on the borders (of a future state) would be absurd if Israel decides on the ground the border,” said the Palestinian leader, in reference to Israeli actions aimed at creating facts on the ground.
“We have always said that Jerusalem is the jewel in the crown and the gate to peace,” Abbas said.
–PTI