President Abbas refuses any partial agreements with Israel

Tuesday September 09, 2008 11:50 by Rami Almeghari - IMEMC & Agencies

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas refused any partial agreements with Israel at the end of underway negotiations with Israel.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas

Abbas was speaking in a press briefing following a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo yesterday.

" If we ensure reaching a comprehensive, not partial or transitional agreement with Israel, we will continue dealing with Olmert, the same way we are dealing with the American administration", Abbas was referring to Israeli Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert.

Asked whether he still relies on PM Olmert with respect to a breakthrough, President Abbas made clear " Olmert is still the prime minister, with whom we deal in terms of negotiations, mainly our legitimate rights which we seek to attain".

The president told reporters that he briefed the Arab ministers on the progress of peace talks with Israel as well as the Palestinian leadership's insistence that ongoing illegal settlement activities on occupied Palestinian lands should be submitted to the UN Security Council soon".

Abbas also briefed them on the latest developments regarding Palestinian national unity efforts, underway since the Islamist Hamas party took over power in January2006.

Israeli prime minister, has recently hinted at the possibility of reaching a partial solution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by end of this year. His expectation would exclude significant issues like the status of occupied east Jerusalem and the problem of Palestinian refugees.

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