LOC11:47
08:47 GMT
GAZA, April 14 (KUNA) -- A senior Palestinian official criticized in strong
terms on Thursday the US stance toward the Middle East namely Washington's
abstention from coercing Israel cooperate for reaching a settlement to the
regional crisis.
Certain "quarters" at the US Administration can't take any step regarding
the Palestinian cause without Israel's prior consent, said Dr. Saeb Oreikat,
the head of the politburo of the Palestine Liberation Organization in remarks
to KUNA.
Oreikat said a meeting of the Quartet, due in Berlin on Friday, was
adjourned due to fresh stands taken by European states and Russia in support
of halting construction and expansion of Israeli settlements as a condition
for resuming the peace process.
Israel has pushed the peace process off course, and the US, regretfully,
backs it with vetoes at the Security Council and putting functions of the
Quartet on hold,, Oreikat said.
Reacting to recent remarks by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about a
new approach by the US Administration toward the peace process, Oreikat said
he could not fathom the "goals of such a declaration."
"We do not need new initiatives. What we actually need is realization by
the US President Barack Obama that states' failure of recognizing the State of
Palestine with the 1967 borders is tantamount to violation of the
international laws," Oreikat said.
President Obama should choose to be supportive of the international laws
and legitimacy and stop dealing with Israel as a state above the law, with its
continuation of the settlement policy and imposing new facts on the ground,
Oreikat said.
On Tuesday, the Palestinian Presidency called on Washington to take an
explicit stand toward the issue of establishing an independent Palestinian
state and urged it take a firm stance against the Isreeli settlement policy.
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