'Abbas to ask Arab League for peace conference'

PA delegation in Cairo to confer with Arab League on next step after Amman talks; int'l peace conference to be floated, official says.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will ask the Arab League to call for an international peace conference during talks in Cairo, AFP quoted a Palestinian official as saying on Sunday.
Azzam al-Ahmad, who is in Cairo along with Abbas, Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat and PA Foreign Minister Riyad al-Malki, told AFP that the delegation would ask the Arab League to back the idea of a conference during a meeting on Sunday.
"One of the proposals we will request from the Arab Follow-Up Committee is for a call to convene an international peace conference on the Palestinian issue," AFP quoted Ahmad as saying.
Abbas arrived in Egypt on Saturday, where he is scheduled to consult with the Arab League on the PA’s next step following five rounds of exploratory talks between Israeli and PA negotiators in Jordan in January.
Abbas is set to brief an Arab League committee on the progress of the talks.
Palestinian news agency Ma’an quoted Fatah Central Committee member Mahmoud al-Aloul as saying the president will seek the Arab League’s support for his position not to return to direct negotiations with Israel.
Abbas also met with the leader of Egypt's ruling military council, Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi in Cairo on Sunday.
Official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that the two leaders discussed the peace process, the talks held in Jordan in January and other developments concerning the Palestinians.