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Abbas Rejects Sharon's Offer on Refugees, Occupied Lands
PLO chairman Mahmoud Abbas has rejected as "unacceptable" Israeli Prime Minisier Ariel Sharon's latest assertions about limited return of Palestinian refugees and limited return of occupied lands, in a newspaper interview yesterday. "We will stick to our principles and hope to receive support from the world community till Sharon retreats from his stands," Abbas told the Times of Oman.Abbas, a hot favorite to succeed late Yasser Arafat as Palestinian president in January election following the withdrawal of candidacy by Marwan Barghouti, was here as part of his Gulf tour during which he held what he called "fruitful" discussions with Omani ruler Sultan Qaboos. Answering a question whether he was carrying American or British ideas, Abbas said: "No doubt, there are Arab ideas focusing on the implementation of the road map. Israel is talking about withdrawal from Gaza and the Arab position is that this withdrawal should be part of the road map. Israel rejects and wants only to withdraw from Gaza, refusing to return to the pre-1967 war borders.'' He said: "The problem of refugees is integrated and the word (refugee) refers to any person who left his/her home or was forced to do so and not his/her nation. This means he/she who left Hai is is a refugee and who left all Palestine is a refugee.''
Posted by: Fred 2004-12-21 |
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