'Not a glimmer of hope' for Palestinian state: AL
There is "not a glimmer of hope" for the creation of a true Palestinian state, the head of the Arab League said on Tuesday, dismissing growing hopes that the moribund peace process is on the verge of recovery. "I do not see any change in the positions of Israel, the United States and their allies or that the situation is going to calm down. I don't see a glimmer of hope," Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa said. Speaking to the Egyptian state daily Al-Ahram, Moussa warned against the temptation of giving the Palestinians statehood that turns out to be based on no more than a rump state. "I fear that all that is going to be proposed to the Palestinians is the creation of a rump state of a provisional nature which is just ridiculous because by consolidating the status quo a time-bomb is being laid," he said. "If there is a true desire to establish a Palestinian state in line with the roadmap then Israel must give the Palestinians 90 percent of the occupied territories as well as east Jerusalem and it must stop settlements," he said.
Posted by: Fred 2004-12-29 |