Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekatsaid on Tuesday that talks with Israel are still difficult despite progress made during the visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.
Erekat gave the caution in an interview with local radio Voice of Palestine, during which he was reluctant to specify the whereabouts of those difficulties but said vaguely they reside in "many issues."
During Rice's latest visit to the region, where she met with both Israeli and Palestinian officials in an effort to close gaps between them ahead of a U.S-sponsored peace summit later this year,the three parties agreed on forming a three-way committee to follow up the implementation of the first phase of the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan.
According to the first phase of the plan, the Palestinians stop the attacks on Israel while Israel, in return, suspends its settlement-building activities in the West Bank.
Apart from the agreement on the three-way committee, the Palestinians also got pledge from the U.S. side that the United States dose not want an "open-ended" Palestinian-Israeli negotiations.
"Rice has asserted that President (George W.) Bush is determined to achieve the two-state solution before his term ends," Erekat said.
However, the seeming achievements made so far are not positive enough to smooth the talks between Israel and the Palestinians as the gaps between the two sides are still huge, especially on the core issues, namely the borders of a Palestinian state, sovereignty of disputed Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
Erekat also rejected Hamas' Bureau Chief Khaled Mashaal's remarks that the U.S.-proposed peace forum was meant to "provide cover for a strike against Syria and Hezbollah (Lebanese Shiite group)."
"The facts on the ground prove the lies of Mashaal," Erekat said, adding that President Abbas "insists on making the peace dominant by inviting Syria and Lebanon to the conference."
Source: Xinhua
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