UN assessment: PA is ready to govern a state of its own

Report by UN special coordinator for Mideast says gov't functions sufficient for Palestinian state, but "occupation" slows progress.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Palestinian Flag 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Flag 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The Palestinian Authority is ready to govern a state of its own, according to a report published Tuesday by the office of UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Robert Serry, AFP reported.
The report, which will be submitted to Palestinian donor nations at a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, said that in six areas where the UN is most engaged there are sufficient governmental functions to establish a state.
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The report, however stressed that it would be difficult for the Palestinians to make further progress while peace talks remained stalled and Israeli "occupation" continued.
Serry praised Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in a statement accompanying the report.
"This is a decisive period," he said, warning that progress could be retarded or even unravelled without more Israeli cooperation and a return to negotiations.Fayyad will present the report. He was expected to present facts and figures to show how his Palestinian Authority has used hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign assistance over the past two years to create justice, education, energy, health, water, security and housing services.
"I believe that our governing institutions have now reached a high state of readiness to assume all the responsibilities that will come with full sovereignty on the entire Palestinian occupied territory," Fayyad said in the 63-page document.
But he underlined that unless the IDF's presence in the West Bank comes to an end, these accomplishments can only achieve so much.