Visiting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday termed the issue of settlements as the main negotiation obstacle that came up after the Annapolis conference held in late November 2007 in the United States.
At a press conference after his meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, Abbas noted that the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations could not continue with settlement activities going on.
Abbas said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has recently promised to send a message to all Israeli ministers to halt settlement activities, adding that he believes Olmert has done so.
Olmert also pledged to activate a U.S.-Israeli-Palestinian committee to handle the first-phase of the Roadmap peace plan that included commitments from the Palestinian National Authority (PNA)to fight against terrorism and ensure security, and from Israel to end new settlement activities, Abbas added.
Abbas, who arrived here on Tuesday, called on Israel to really stop settlement activities on the ground, expressing hope that those expected developments would keep the door open for negotiations, committees' formation and final-status talks.
On the upcoming U.S. President George W. Bush's visit to the Mideast in early January, Abbas noted that Bush is expected to tackle on removing impediments hindering negotiations, especially the settlement issue.
Israel recently planned to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, which overshadowed the first two rounds of peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians after it was formally relaunched at the Annapolis peace conference held in Maryland on Nov. 27, 2007.
<i>Source:Xinhua</i>
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