ABBAS STRESSES INDEPENDENT PALESTINIAN STATE WITH JERUSALEM AS ITS CAPITAL

Ramallah, 3 Rabi’ul Awwal 1435/5 January 2014 (MINA) – Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said Saturday President Mahmoud Abbas stressed the firm Palestinian position and that is an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital should be established on the 1967 borders.

Abbas also stressed that he will not accept any partial or transitional solutions nor would accept to legalize settlements and insist on release of all prisoners, WAFA, Palestinian News & Info Agency quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA) as reporting .

Speaking after President Mahmoud Abbas and US Secretary of State John Kerry held three hours of talks in Ramallah that the two sides held intensive talks that went on for several hours over two days during which all positions and ideas were discussed.

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Kerry said after the meeting that some progress was made but that more work needs to be done to find a solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

He said he was working on a framework agreement that would guide the two sides in their negotiations.

He said the talks he has had in Palestine and Israel since his arrival here on Thursday ‘have already fleshed out, and even resolved certain kinds of issues and presented new opportunities for others.’

Kerry said that he was working with great intensity to resolve this conflict that has been going on for too long.

Head of the higher Islamic authority in Jerusalem Sheikh Ikrima Sabri expressed his rejection of the proposals to be tabled by US secretary of state John Kerry during his upcoming visit to occupied Palestine and said they are aimed at prolonging the longevity of the occupation.

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In a statement to the Palestinian information center (PIC), Sheikh Sabri said that Kerry’s solutions would deprive the Palestinian refugees of their right to return to their homes they were expelled from and retain Israel’s settlement expansion.

“What is that solution that protects the settlements and prevents the refugees from returning to their homes?” Sheikh Sabri asked deprecatingly.

Hamas said, “through its efforts the US want to create Oslo 2.”

Meanwhile, there was Palestinian anger over US bias towards the Israeli occupation. Large numbers of Palestinians took to the streets in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

PA security forces blocked a demonstration organised by the Palestinian Popular Front that was heading towards Abbas’ headquarters during his meeting with Kerry.

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Demonstrators said that they do not need any framework agreement; its sole aim is to extend the negotiations period.

A senior Hamas official, who preferred to remain anonymous, told MEMO on Saturday that the US sought framework agreement is similar to Oslo.

“There will be an agreement to continue negotiations,” he said. “In Oslo, the PA was pressed to concede 80 per cent of Palestine, and now it is negotiating on the remaining 20 per cent.” (T/P02/E1)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)