Post by Salem6 on Feb 24, 2004 11:02:31 GMT
JERUSALEM: Israel will not negotiate with the current Palestinian leadership because it has failed to meet all its obligations under the US-backed roadmap for peace, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was quoted as saying Monday by public radio.
Although Sharon did not specifically refer to his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qorei, a statement by his office said a planned preparatory meeting for talks between the two had been canceled due to a deadly suicide blast in Jerusalem Sunday.
Sharon, who was addressing parliament's defense and foreign affairs committee Monday, also said he intended to present his disengagement plan from the Palestinians to US President George W. Bush during a trip to Washington in late March, the radio said.
The preparatory meeting was canceled because of the suicide-bombing of a Jerusalem bus Sunday that killed eight people, apart from the attacker, according to the statement by Sharon 's office.
Sharon's chief of staff "Dov Weisglass informed his Palestinian counterpart that in light of the circumstances following yesterdays abominable mass murder in Jerusalem, there is no basis to hold such a meeting at the present time", the statement said.
Weisglass and his counterpart Hassan Abu Libdeh were to have met to plan talks between Sharon and Qorei.
The hawkish Israel premier said last December he would unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians if they did not respect their end of the bargain under the international Middle East peace roadmap, a plan that aims to stop Middle East violence and create a Palestinian state by 2005.
Peace negotiations have stalled in recent months, while Sharon and Qorei have failed to meet, although the two both said they were ready to hold talks.
During his Monday address, Sharon was criticized by two extreme right-wing MPs about his refusal to submit his disengagement plan to the goverment before presenting it to Bush.
By submitting his plan first to the US president, from whom he hopes to win backing, "he wants to present the government with a fait accompli," MP Arieh Eldad, who sits on Sharon 's ruling coalition, said in a radio broadcast.
Eldad threatened to vote with the opposition, who were to present three censure motions against the government later Monday.
Sharon 's unilateral disengagement plan involves, among other things, an evacuation from 17 of the Gaza Strip's 21 Jewish settlements, possibly by this summer, and from isolated West Bank settlements.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/514850.cms
Although Sharon did not specifically refer to his Palestinian counterpart Ahmed Qorei, a statement by his office said a planned preparatory meeting for talks between the two had been canceled due to a deadly suicide blast in Jerusalem Sunday.
Sharon, who was addressing parliament's defense and foreign affairs committee Monday, also said he intended to present his disengagement plan from the Palestinians to US President George W. Bush during a trip to Washington in late March, the radio said.
The preparatory meeting was canceled because of the suicide-bombing of a Jerusalem bus Sunday that killed eight people, apart from the attacker, according to the statement by Sharon 's office.
Sharon's chief of staff "Dov Weisglass informed his Palestinian counterpart that in light of the circumstances following yesterdays abominable mass murder in Jerusalem, there is no basis to hold such a meeting at the present time", the statement said.
Weisglass and his counterpart Hassan Abu Libdeh were to have met to plan talks between Sharon and Qorei.
The hawkish Israel premier said last December he would unilaterally disengage from the Palestinians if they did not respect their end of the bargain under the international Middle East peace roadmap, a plan that aims to stop Middle East violence and create a Palestinian state by 2005.
Peace negotiations have stalled in recent months, while Sharon and Qorei have failed to meet, although the two both said they were ready to hold talks.
During his Monday address, Sharon was criticized by two extreme right-wing MPs about his refusal to submit his disengagement plan to the goverment before presenting it to Bush.
By submitting his plan first to the US president, from whom he hopes to win backing, "he wants to present the government with a fait accompli," MP Arieh Eldad, who sits on Sharon 's ruling coalition, said in a radio broadcast.
Eldad threatened to vote with the opposition, who were to present three censure motions against the government later Monday.
Sharon 's unilateral disengagement plan involves, among other things, an evacuation from 17 of the Gaza Strip's 21 Jewish settlements, possibly by this summer, and from isolated West Bank settlements.
timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/514850.cms