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PLO Official Hints at Possible Peace Deal with Israel
Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat's deputy, Mahmoud Abbas, also known as Abu Mazan, hinted on Monday, December 4, at the possibility of reaching a peace agreement with Israel within the next few weeks.
In remarks in the Qatari capital Doha, Abu Mazen, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organization, said if Israel acknowledges that implementing international resolutions is the way to go, he did not rule out the possibility of reaching a peace deal with the Israelis before US President Bill Clinton's term expires on January 20th.
According to reports reaching here, Abu Mazan also said the 1993 Oslo Palestinian-Israeli Agreement on Palestinian self-rule is not dead. The Oslo accord called for Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza strip and the West Bank town of Jericho in a first stage of Palestinian self-rule in the occupied territories.
On a recent peace offer by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, Abu Mazen said it was just Barak's election propaganda to boost his position ahead of the elections.
Barak has proposed a peace deal to give Palestinians a state, annex Jewish settlements to Israel and delay negotiations on Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees for up to three years.
Regarding the financial situation in the Palestinian territories, the PLO official said that the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) has only received US$30 million from Saudi Arabia as part of the two funds created during a recent Arab summit in Cairo.
The 1 billion dollar funds were established in the October Cairo Arab Summit to support the families of the Palestinians killed by Israeli soldiers and the Palestinian uprising.
Oil-rich Gulf Arab states have announced big donations for the funds, with Saudi Arabia promising 250 million dollars.
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