A Palestinian minister of the interim government based in this West Bank town said Sunday the Palestinian Authority hopes that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney would press Israel to stop expanding settlements in the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Samir Abdullah, minister of planning in the interim Palestinian government, warned that Israel's settlement activities "threaten the peace process."
Earlier in the day, Cheney began a 10-day tour to the Middle East, which would bring him to Oman, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territories and Turkey.
According to Abdullah, Cheney's talks with leaders of the Palestinian Authority will focus on the U.S.-backed roadmap peace plan which envisions a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel.
"Israel did not move a single step in carrying out its obligations under the roadmap plan," Abdullah noted.
"Instead, it adds more obstacles to what was agreed upon at the Annapolis conference which mainly aims at reviving the negotiations to make peace by the end of this year," Abdullah said, referring to the U.S.-hosted peace conference held last November.
At the Annapolis conference, both the Palestinian and Israeli sides had vowed to implement the U.S.-brokered roadmap plan.
One month after the conference, the Palestinians and Israel launched peace talks, which had failed to produce any significant result so far. The Palestinian Authority has blamed the tardiness of peace talks partially on Israel's settlement expansion plan.
The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported last week that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert had approved the renewed construction of hundreds of new homes in a West Bank settlement.
The first phase of the roadmap plan calls on the Palestinians to crack down on militants, while demanding that Israel halt Jewish settlement activity and uproot illegal outposts.
Source:Xinhua
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