PALESTINIANS READY FOR UPCOMING MIDDLE EAST PEACE MEETING, LEADER TELLS UN

PALESTINIANS READY FOR UPCOMING MIDDLE EAST PEACE MEETING, LEADER TELLS UN
New York, Sep 28 2007 5:00PM
The Palestinian Authority is committed to the success of an upcoming Middle East peace meeting, its President, Mahmoud Abbas, told the United Nations General Assembly today.

"There is not the slightest obstacle to promoting the holding of a peace meeting, which will take place shortly," President Abbas said as the Assembly continued its annual high-level debate.

He voiced hope that all parties would be able to negotiate, and declared that the basis for a solution lies with the many UN resolutions and decisions that have been taken on the matter.

President Abbas said he had recently met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to discuss pressing issues, adding that the upcoming conference offers an opportunity to be able to settle all matters, including those having to do with Jerusalem, the return of refugees, water and security.

"I reaffirm the full readiness of our people to truly come on board a peace process which will lead to a comprehensive full agreement with respect to all of the issues related to a final settlement," he said.

He said the Palestinian Authority would put the proposals to a popular referendum "involving the entire Palestinian people so that they can give their view with respect to the outcomes of the conference."

Experience showed that the policy of trying "half-solutions" only further complicates matters to the point where today the threat is a real one: "there could be an explosion of civil war, of regional war, and the creation of a climate conducive to terrorism," he said.

He also spoke about Islam, saying it is a humane religion and objecting to any attempt to portray Islam in an unfair manner. "Islam is a religion that opposes killing, terrorism and murder. It is against extremism; it is against closing inward. Attempts to create a conflict among religions is one of the methods of terrorists today."

To counteract this trend, he emphasized the importance of the dialogue among civilizations.
2007-09-28 00:00:00.000

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