Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. Space Travel News .




WAR REPORT
Palestinians weigh new peace talks bid
by Staff Writers
Ramallah, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Dec 10, 2012


The Palestinians are looking to reactivate peace talks with Israel with the aim of resolving all final status issues within six months, a senior official said on Monday.

Speaking to the official Voice of Palestine radio, negotiator Saeb Erakat said "a new stage" had been reached after the Palestinians successfully won non-member status at the United Nations.

"After the UN resolution... a new stage has certainly started," he said, speaking a day after Arab League ministers met in Doha, Qatar.

The historic UN vote on November 29 had convinced the Arab world that "the peace process, and its references and involved parties including the (Middle East) Quartet, should be reconsidered," he said.

By the end of December, a Palestinian committee would work up action plans after which it would travel to the five permanent UN Security Council members -- Britain, France, Russia, China and the US -- to see "whether there is a chance for the peace process and on which principles it should held".

Direct peace talks which began in September 2010 fell apart several weeks later over a dispute over settlements, with the Palestinians calling for a construction freeze and Israel arguing for a return to talks without such preconditions.

Erakat outlined three principles for a return to the negotiating table with the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"The first principle is that the goal of the peace process -- according to all previously signed agreements and international law -- is the withdrawal of Israel to the June 4, 1967 borderline, including Jerusalem," he said.

"The second principle is related to the necessity of re-launching negotiations from the point they were halted, which means they should not start from scratch like Netanyahu wants them to be.

"The third principle is to set a six-month time-table for the negotiations to reach an agreement over all final status issues," he said.

"Settlement activity should be halted during this period of time and Palestinian prisoners should be released in accordance with previously signed agreements and not as preconditions."

According to a statement on the Doha talks published by the official WAFA news agency, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas proposed "a mechanism setting a six month deadline during which settlements would be halted and Israel would enter into negotiations on what was agreed" -- namely, the 1967 borders as a basis for a peace deal.

Before the start of talks in 2010, Israel observed a 10-month freeze on new West Bank construction, but has refused repeated requests to renew it, dismissing it as an unacceptable "precondition" for talks, although the Palestinians say it is an "obligation" under international law.

.


Related Links






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








WAR REPORT
Sham II: New fighting machine of Syria rebels
Bishqatin, Syria (AFP) Dec 9, 2012
From a distance it looks rather like a big rusty metal box but closer inspection reveals the latest achievement of Syrian rebels: a home-made armoured vehicle waiting to be deployed. Sham II, named after ancient Syria, is built from the chassis of a car and touted by rebels as "100 percent made in Syria." It required a "month of work" for the design, assembly and development of the vehic ... read more


WAR REPORT
SPACEX Awarded Two EELV Class Missions From The USAF

Russia Set to Launch Telecoms Satellite for Gazprom

Sea Launch Delivers the EUTELSAT 70B Spacecraft into Orbit

S. Korea readies new bid to join global space club

WAR REPORT
Orbiter Spies Where Rover's Cruise Stage Hit Mars

NASA to send new rover to Mars in 2020

Safe Driving on Mars

Ancient Mars May Have Captured Enormous Floodwaters

WAR REPORT
NASA's GRAIL Creates Most Accurate Moon Gravity Map

Chinese astronauts may grow veg on Moon

WSU researchers use 3-D printer to make parts from moon rock

China's Chang'e-3 to land on moon next year

WAR REPORT
Halfway Between Uranus and Neptune, New Horizons Cruises On

Dwarf planet Makemake lacks atmosphere

Keck Observations Bring Weather Of Uranus Into Sharp Focus

At Pluto, Moons and Debris May Be Hazardous to New Horizons Spacecraft During Flyby

WAR REPORT
Astronomers discover and 'weigh' infant solar system

Search for Life Suggests Solar Systems More Habitable than Ours

Do missing Jupiters mean massive comet belts?

Brown Dwarfs May Grow Rocky Planets

WAR REPORT
N. Korea replacing faulty rocket stage: report

N. Korea completes installing rocket: report

S. Korea postpones rocket launch to 2013: official

N. Korea installs rocket on launch pad: report

WAR REPORT
Mr Xi in Space

China plans manned space launch in 2013: state media

China to launch manned spacecraft

Tiangong 1 Parked And Waiting As Shenzhou 10 Mission Prep Continues

WAR REPORT
What is Creating Gullies on Vesta?

Heliophysics Nugget: Sungrazing Comets as Solar Probes

Asteroid dust from space

Nine Radar Images of Asteroid 2007 PA8




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement