An independent Palestinian lawmaker on Wednesday called for suspension of peace talks with Israel in protest against the building of settlements.
"There is a political chance for the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to immediately stop the negotiations until Israel commits itself to halting the settlement activities on the ground under international assurances and monitoring," said lawmaker Mustafa al-Barghouti in a statement faxed to the press.
He warned that "the chance would be lost if the negotiators kept on the talks," urging the Palestinian negotiation crew to boycott the talks until the settlements and the construction of West Bank barrier are stopped.
Earlier in the day, a Palestinian negotiator also warned that the peace process would collapse due to the continuation of Israel's settlement activities, denying any progress has been made in the talks.
Meanwhile, Ahmed Abdel Rahman, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah movement said Israel "imposes new settlement facts on the ground."
He also ruled out the possibility of establishing a Palestinian statehood this year. The spokesman, however, stressed that "a Palestinian statehood with Jerusalem as its capital is a certain matter at the end."
The peace talks, revived at the U.S.-sponsored Annapolis peace conference in November, are aimed to reach a framework deal enabling the announcement of a Palestinian statehood before U.S. President George W. Bush quits the White House in January.
In April, Israeli media reported that the Jewish state planned to build about 1,900 new apartments in several settlements in Jerusalem and the West Bank in 2008.
Source: Xinhua
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