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Fayad wants release of 2,000 prisoners
The Palestinian Authority demands that Washington make an effort to achieve a document that would stand up to the Palestinian people's expectations and would help make the upcoming peace conference scheduled to take place at Annapolis, Maryland a success, Israel Radio reported Saturday evening. The Palestinian demand was announced by PA President Mahmoud Abbas's spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh following a meeting in Ramallah between Abbas and the United States' Assistant Secretary of State David Welsh. According to Rudaineh, Abbas told Welsh that the Palestinians were working to implement the first stage of the 'Road Map' and asked that Israel, too, would take measures to implement its own Road Map obligations. In a meeting in Jericho with top Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, Welsh expressed readiness on the side of the US to oversee that the first stage of the Road Map is implemented, if the sides agree to it. Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayad on urged Israel to agree to a deadline for peace talks and make "bold moves" ahead of the conference, including the release of 2,000 of more than 12,000 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. Israel has rejected demands for a timetable, and US officials have also been cool to the idea, but Fayad told The Associated Press in an interview that a deadline is essential for restoring credibility to more than a decade of failed peace efforts. Posted by: Fred 2007-11-04 |
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