Erekat: US hasn't made Palestinians offer to resume talks

Palestinian official says US envoy told Abbas that Washington still trying to find a formula that would pave the way for the resumption of negotiations.

By KHALED ABU TOAMEH
erekat raise the roof REUTERS 311 (photo credit: REUTERS)
erekat raise the roof REUTERS 311
(photo credit: REUTERS)
The US administration still hasn’t made any offer to the Palestinians to resume peace talks with Israel over final- status issues, PLO Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat said on Sunday.
He stated that US envoy David Hale, who recently met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, told him that Washington would try to find a formula that would pave the way for the resumption of peace talks on the basis of US President Barack Obama’s vision.
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According to Erekat, Abbas said that the resumption of talks was contingent on the acceptance by the Israeli government of the principle of two states along the pre- 1967 lines and a cessation of all settlement activities in the West Bank and in east Jerusalem.
Erekat once again held the Israeli government fully responsible for the impasse in the peace process, saying Israel has chosen settlements and dictates instead of peace and negotiations.
Erekat said that UN recognition of a Palestinian state in September would consolidate, and not hinder, the peace process. Abbas told reporters in Ramallah on Sunday that he was prepared to return to accept any peace initiative that is based on international resolutions. “Our main goal is to achieve freedom and independence and a state on the 1967 borders so that we could live in security, peace and stability next to all the countries in the region, including Israel,” Abbas said after meeting with Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez Reyna.