Palestinian peace talks 'hit dead end'
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared today that months of coalition talks with the ruling Hamas have hit a “dead end” and his aides said he’s finished negotiating with the Islamic militants.
Abbas’ dramatic statement, made with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at his side, could deepen internal strife in the Palestinian territories and set the stage for new elections.
Hamas denied the talks were in trouble and suggested Abbas was bluffing.
However, Abbas’ aides said he would decide on his next move in coming days, in consultation with the PLO Executive Committee, the Palestinians’ top decision-making body.
His options are limited and fraught with risk.
Abbas can fire the Hamas government as a stopgap measure, but would quickly see any new government vetoed by the clear Hamas majority in parliament, or he can hold a referendum on whether to call new elections that his weakened Fatah movement might easily lose.
The prospect of more political turmoil in the Palestinian territories came just as Rice was lending high-level support to renewed peace momentum, highlighted by a fresh truce on the Gaza-Israel border and a conciliatory speech by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert earlier this week.
Rice met separately with Abbas and Olmert today.
The latest round of Palestinian government talks foundered over who will control weapons and money in a future Cabinet of independent administrators who would be close to, but not leading members of, Hamas and Fatah.
Hamas demands to retain the interior and finance portfolios, while Abbas insists they be taken over by independents to ensure that the international community will recognise the new government and lift its nine-month aid boycott of the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority.
“We have exerted efforts. We have worked in many directions, but unfortunately we have hit a dead end,” Abbas said today after meeting for an hour with Rice in the West Bank town of Jericho.
Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas denied the talks had broken down, but the group also warned Abbas not to try to overturn the outcome of the January election that brought Hamas to power.
“He knows the dangers of ignoring those choices very well,” said Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman.
Abbas’ aides countered that Hamas hadn’t put much effort into the negotiations. They noted that Haniyeh, Abbas’ negotiating partner, left Gaza earlier this week for a lengthy tour of the Arab world, putting negotiations on hold for at least six weeks.
During a visit to Cairo today, Haniyeh acknowledged a dispute over details, but insisted the coalition talks were reaching their “final destination”.
A top Abbas confidant, Saeb Erekat, said Abbas was finished talking to Hamas. “In my opinion if the president says this it means he personally will not pursue this any longer,” Erekat said.
“He will summon the PLO Executive Committee, or leadership, and study the options, anything short of a civil war.”
Yasser Abed Rabbo, another senior Abbas aide, said the Palestinian president would soon announce “unprecedented political steps” in the wake of the breakdown in talks with Hamas.
It is unlikely that Abbas will resume peace talks with Israel until he has sorted out these problems, because a disgruntled Hamas could sabotage any deal.
Even an Abbas-Olmert summit on lesser issues, such as easing Israel’s travel restrictions on Palestinians, can only take place after the truce has been extended to the West Bank and Israel releases Palestinian prisoners in exchange for an Israeli soldier held by Hamas-allied militants, said Erekat.
Hamas is demanding freedom for up to 1,400 prisoners of the 9,000 Israel is holding.
Still, Palestinian officials said they were encouraged by the new direction taken by Israel’s government. Earlier this week, Olmert reached out to the Palestinians in a conciliatory speech, a final break with his initial plan to draw Israel’s borders unilaterally, rather than in negotiations.
Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said today that Olmert’s speech was intended as a message to Palestinian moderates that “there is a political horizon”.
Rice said the two sides should seize the opportunity.
“Hopefully we can take this moment to accelerate our efforts and intensify our efforts toward the two-state solution that we all desire,” Rice said in a joint news conference with Abbas.
She also reiterated support for a “viable and contiguous” Palestinian state and addressed Palestinian concerns about Israeli settlement expansion.
Abbas aides said he gave her new maps and documents on settlement construction.
“No actions that are being taken now should prejudge the outcome of a final status agreement,” Rice said, with reference to Israeli settlement activity.
