Abbas: No 'Temporary' Palestinian State
Pastor Dale Morgan
Abbas: No 'Temporary' Palestinian State*
By MOHAMMED DARAGHMEH
The Associated Press
Sunday, January 14, 2007; 9:23 AM
RAMALLAH, West Bank -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Sunday that he opposes the
establishment of a provisional Palestinian state within temporary borders.
Palestinian officials in recent weeks have grown increasingly wary of
the idea, which was also proposed by Israel's foreign minister, fearing
they will be stuck indefinitely with a truncated state.
"We reaffirmed to Secretary Rice our rejection of any temporary or
transitional solutions, including a state with temporary borders,
because we don't see in it as a realistic option," he told a joint news
conference with Rice.
Rice responded by reiterating the U.S. commitment to the internationally
backed "road map" peace plan. She not address the idea of a provisional
state at the news conference, but Mohammed Dahlan, a confidant of Abbas,
said later she "showed understanding" for the Palestinian position.
"My work is going to be best targeted, I think, in these next months on
trying to accelerate progress on the road map, which after all would
lead us then to a Palestinian state and to helping the Palestinians and
Israelis think through the political horizon," she said.
Rice said she was told during her trip that the United States needed to
deepen its involvement in Mideast peace efforts. "You will have my
commitment to do precisely that," she said.
"The Palestinian people have waited a long time for their own state. The
Israeli people have waited a long time to live in security and peace
with their neighbors," she said.
Abbas also said he is determined to go ahead with early elections if the
latest round of coalition talks with Hamas fails.
The two rival Palestinian factions have made repeated attempts to form a
coalition Cabinet but failed because of disagreement over key posts,
such as the interior and finance ministries, and the government's
political program.
Hamas, which has dominated the Cabinet since winning parliamentary
elections in March, has balked at international demands it recognize
Israel, renounce violence and accept existing peace deals before Western
sanctions on economic assistance to the government could be lifted.
The international community, including the U.S., insists that any
Palestinian government recognize Israel's right to exist, but Hamas has
refused to do so.
Ahead of Rice's visit, Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of
Hamas contended that Israel and the U.S. were trying to fan the flames
of a Palestinian civil war. Fighting between Abbas' Fatah faction and
Hamas gunmen has repeatedly erupted in Gaza in recent months.
The U.S. policy of backing Abbas and ignoring Hamas "is doomed to fail
because the Palestinian people are not bought with money, and no one
believes that trying to lure some (Palestinians) will lead to results,"
said Ghazi Hamad, a Hamas government spokesman.
On Saturday, Rice met separately with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi
Livni and Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz. Last month, Livni
proposed setting up a provisional Palestinian state, with a border based
on the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.