Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haneya renewed on Sunday his
rejection to the Arab peace initiative of 2002, saying it includes
recognition of the Jewish state.
"The problem with the Arab peace initiative is that it includes
recognition of the state of Israel, the thing that the Palestinian
government rejects," Haneya told a group of academics and
politicians in Gaza.
The annual Arab Summit, which convened in Beirut in March
2002,came up with a peace initiative to resolve the Israeli-Arab
conflict, including the establishment of a Palestinian state on the
territories occupied by Israel in 1967.
Haneya said he had agreed with President Mahmoud Abbas to keep
the clause related to recognizing the Arab peace initiative in the
document of national accordance under debates between the president
and the premier.
The document, architected and drafted by leaders of prisoners in
Israeli jails, had implicitly recognized the two-state solution,
without saying or hinting to the recognition of Israel.
Haneya also said he agreed with President Abbas that the prime
minister of the coming national unity government "must be from
Islamic Hamas movement, since Hamas enjoys a parliamentary
majority."
Haneya slammed President Abbas for not inviting his cabinet
ministers in the West Bank city of Ramallah to the high-ranking
meetings Abbas holds at his Ramallah headquarters.
He also revealed that many Palestinian diplomats, who head the
Palestinian diplomatic representations in many world capitals,
"refuse to deal with the current Minister of Foreign Affairs
Mahmoud al-Zahar."
Haneya also slammed the United States, saying "it interferes in
our internal affairs, which would negatively affect our national
unity."
(Xinhua News Agency October 9, 2006)
