Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Tuesday renewed rejection of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's economic peace plan.

Speaking at the opening session of the first Fatah general assembly in 20 years, Abbas said Netanyahu's plan is aimed at "diverting the world's attention from the (Palestinian) political rights."

"We are not seeking for getting bread only, we want to have our freedom firstly and lastly," Abbas told the conferees on the first day of the three-day congress.

He added that the peace process with Israel must lead to "independence, creating the statehood with Jerusalem as a capital."

He stressed that there will be no peace deal with Israel unless it stops the settlement activities on Palestinian land, especially in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

"What is being built on our land since 1967 is illegal," he said.

On July 12, Netanyahu called on Abbas "to meet to reach a political and economic peace," which was slammed by the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) slammed as "part of public relations rather than an effort to make peace."

The PNA said the talks can not resume unless Netanyahu, who took office in early April, clearly shows his commitment to the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan which envisions the two-state solutions.

Meanwhile, Abbas said in his lengthy speech that "Fatah demonstrates its rejection to be a hostage in the hands of the coup-makers in the Gaza Strip."

About 2,267 Fatah members were initially expected to attend the conference, but more than 400 Gaza-based invitees are absent since the Islamic Hamas movement, Fatah's bitter rival which controls the Gaza Strip, barred the conferees from traveling to the West Bank.

Nearly 80 Arab and international delegations and parties are attending the opening session of the three-day conference which is being held in a hall of a school near the Church of Nativity.

The conference will elect a new central committee and a revolutionary council to replace the current bodies that had been elected in August 1989.

Security measures have been tightened as hundreds of policemen have been deployed on the streets leading to the school.

Source: Xinhua