Erekat rejects possible extension of deadline of talks with Israel

Chief negotiator told the PA’s Voice of Palestine radio that the PA was opposed to any extension of the deadline.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat 370 (photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat 370
(photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat on Monday ruled out the possibility of extending the nine-month deadline set by the US for completing the peace talks with Israel.
The deadline falls in April 2014.
Erekat told the PA’s Voice of Palestine radio that the PA was opposed to any extension of the deadline, saying earlier statements attributed to him on this subject have been “misunderstood.”
Erekat had been quoted as saying that the talks with Israel may continue after the expiration of the deadline. “I said that if we reach an agreement on all the final-status issues, we could continue the talks to discuss the details,” Erekat clarified.
Mohamed Subeih, the PA envoy to the Arab League, told the Palestinian Ma’an news agency that US Secretary of State John Kerry would present the Israelis and Palestinians with a written framework agreement at the end of this month.
The agency quoted a senior Palestinian official as outlining Abbas’s stance on final-status issues as follows: no to the presence of any Israeli soldier in the Jordan Valley, no to a demilitarized state, no to any deal that does not include all of east Jerusalem as a capital of a Palestinian state, no to recognizing Israel as a Jewish state and no to any interim agreement.