President Abbas to Rice: Israel should abide by the Road Map's obligations

Sunday May 04, 2008 23:01

by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas voiced on Sunday the Palestinian leadership's concern over what he called 'the Israelis side's failure to abide by its obligations, stated in the U.S-backed road map peace blueprint of 2003'.

President Abbas, right, Secretary Rice, left/ archive photo

In a joint press briefing with the U.S Secretary of States, Condloeeza Rice, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Abbas called on Israel to implement the first phase of the Road Map.

He told reporters that the Palestinian side has asked the U.S Secretary to pressure Israel to stop all forms of settlements construction on Palestinian lands and reopen the East Jerusalem-based Palestinian institutions as well as return the situation back prior to Septemebr2000, when the Palestinian uprising (Intifada) broke out.

Abu Mazen (Abbas) also declared he would meet on Monday with the Israeli Prime Minister as well as the Israeli foreign minister, Tsibi Livni, for talks over the final status issues and daily concerns between the two sides.

He expressed the hope that the Palestinian security forces will be deployed soon throughout the West Bank cities, towns, villages and refugee camps, looking forward to observing one kind of weapon or the governmental arms in the Palestinian street.

Mrs. Rice said that President Gorge W. Bush believes strongly that the time is due for the realization of a Palestinian state, asserting that the Israeli settlement activities would jeopardize the peace-making efforts and contradict with the road map.

According to the road map, the Palestinian security services would evacuate the Palestinian street of any weapons, owned by the various Palestinian resistance factions, as Israel would halt all settlement activities on Palestinian lands.

Rice called last week on both sides to demarcate the borders of the future two states, the American President had envisioned to realize by the end of 2008, following the last November Washington-sponsored peace summit of Annapolis.