'Abbas, Hollande to meet to continue work of Paris peace conference'
The Palestinian Authority President and the French President are slated to convene in two weeks to discuss the results of the Paris peace parley, which Palestinian officials have publicly criticized.
By ADAM RASGONFrench President Francois Hollande welcomes Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Elysee Palace.(photo credit: REUTERS)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and French President Francois Hollande will meet in two weeks to follow up on the results of the international conference which took place in Paris on January 15, the PA president said on Wednesday.Speaking before a meeting of the Fatah Revolutionary Council, Abbas said that he will travel to France on February 7 to thank Hollande and “set into place a clear and defined [international] mechanism,” Wafa, the official PA news agency, reported.Despite the Palestinian leadership’s repeated calls for the creation of an intentional mechanism to monitor the peace process in the weeks prior to the conference, the concluding statement of the Paris parley made no mention of one. Ahmad Majdalani, a close advisor to Abbas, told The Jerusalem Post, that the PA President and Hollande are meeting to continue the work of the international conference.“The Paris conference did not end on January 15; there are additional steps that need to be taken by the participants in the conference,” Majdalani, who is also a PLO Executive Committee member, said.Israeli, Palestinian officials criticize Paris peace conference“We need to ensure that the decisions of the conference are implemented, and that there is a mechanism based on international law to monitor a meaningful peace process that leads to results and holds Israel accountable for settlement building.”The concluding statement of the conference called on both sides to reaffirm their commitments to a two-state solution and refrain from unilateral measures, and reiterated support for negotiations and an agreement based on UN resolutions and satisfying Israeli security needs.
