Abbas wants to revive 'road map' peace talks at UN

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas said Wednesday that he planned to send a Palestinian delegation to the United Nations General Assembly session next week to revive the long-stalled "road map" peace plan. The internationally backed road map, a staged plan that calls for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, was launched by US President George W. Bush with great fanfare at a summit in Aqaba, Jordan, in June 2003. "We want to revive the road map at the United Nations," Abbas said during a televised news conference with Polish President Lech Kaczynski in the West Bank city of Ramallah. "We're all for the restarting of the road map," Israeli government spokeswoman Miri Eisin said, adding that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke about revitalizing the peace plan over the weekend with visiting British Prime Minister Tony Blair.