US refuses PA demand for guarantee on return to '67 borders
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
By: ICEJ News

Abbas holding out for American assurances before direct talks

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas told his Fatah faction on Tuesday he has demanded clearer assurances from the Obama administration that direct talks with Israel will be aimed at a return to the pre-1967 lines, but the US State Department said today that the borders of a future Palestinian state and other core issues in dispute can only be resolved in face-to-face negotiations between the two sides.

Abbas told a closed-door gathering of the128-member Fatah Revolutionary Council yesterday that he wants the US administration to deliver more specific commitments on the borders of a future Palestinian state and an extensive of the Israeli settlement freeze before agreeing to direct talks with Israel.

Abbas said he had received “verbal assurances” from US President Barack Obama in response to his recent requests on these issues, but they were too vague. He added that although the US was exerting heavy pressure for him to engage Israeli leaders directly, he will not go "blindly" into such negotiations.

Abbas will seek backing for his stance at meetings next week of the Fatah Central Committee, the PLO Executive Committee, and the Arab League. Otherwise, he said he is willing to wait until Israel’s 10-month moratorium on new Jewish housing starts in the West Bank expires in late September.

But in response to questions about the PA leader’s demands, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said on Wednesday that final status issues, including the borders of a future Palestinian state, can only be addressed during direct peace talks between Israel and the PA.

Crowley stated that the main thrust of the Administration’s efforts right now is to get the parties in the same room, so they can "address the fundamental issues in the process, including borders. These are issues that we think can only be resolved within the context of direct negotiations."

Crowley added that the ongoing proximity talks brokered by US special envoy George Mitchell had provided a foundation for moving to direct negotiations, but that "ultimately, in order to address… refugees, security, Jerusalem, borders – those can only be resolved in direct negotiations themselves."