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Time Premature for Resuming Talks With Israel: Palestinian Official
Palestinian Minister of Culture and Information Yasser Abed Rabbo said on Friday, December 15, that it is too early to talk about possible resumption of Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations at present.
Contacts and examinations of Palestinians' and Israel's attitudes are under way, he told Voice of Palestine Radio.
He noted that Palestinian National Authority (PNA) was not against the peace negotiations, stressing the continuation of the current Palestinian Al Aqsa Intifada (uprising), which he said in no way blocked negotiations for an independent state.
On the four-hour meeting Thursday night between PNA Chairman Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami at the Erez crossing point between Israel and Gaza Strip, Abed Rabbo said that the two sides discussed issues relating to the revival of peace talks, disclosing that contacts and meetings are expected to resume in the coming weeks.
Israeli-Palestinian peace talks have been stalled since late July over a number of issues, especially the final status of Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees.
More than 320 people, mostly Palestinians, have been killed and thousands others wounded in the clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli troops that erupted on September 28.
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