Abbas: No peace agreement by 2009

PA president: US, Israel too busy with other matters; says time constraint makes agreement impossible.

By JPOST STAFF, AP
abbas 224 88 ap (photo credit: AP [file])
abbas 224 88 ap
(photo credit: AP [file])
With only three months left of George W. Bush's US presidential term, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas acknowledged for the first time on Monday that a US-motivated drive toward a working peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians by the end of 2008 was not likely to succeed, Reuters reported. "I don't think it's possible to come to an agreement by the end of the year when both administrations, in the United States and in Israel, are busy with other matters," Reuters quoted Abbas as saying during his visit to Romania. "The brief amount of time which we have does not permit the conclusion of an agreement," he added. The PA president arrived in Romania on Monday for a two-day visit, and was greeted by Romanian President Traian Basescu in a ceremony at the Cotroceni presidential palace. He was expected to hold talks later in the day with Basescu to discuss the situation in the Middle East and bilateral relations. Following that meeting, he was also scheduled to meet lawmakers from both chambers of parliament.