Last update - 02:18 01/05/2007
Palestinians fear for peace talks
By The Associated Press
RAMALLAH - Senior Palestinian officials worried yesterday that the Winograd report, which charged Prime Minister Ehud Olmert with severe failures in handling last summer's war in Lebanon, might further complicate delicate Mideast peace efforts by weakening his government.
The harsh report, which sparked new calls for Olmert's resignation, comes at a time when the United States is pushing to revive Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. Earlier this year, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice extracted promises from Olmert and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas to meet twice a month and eventually start talking about the outlines of a peace deal. Also, the Arab world last month renewed its peace initiative, which offers Israel full recognition in return for a full withdrawal to the pre-1967 armistice lines and a solution to the refugee problem.
The next Abbas-Olmert session was to take place soon in the West Bank town of Jericho, but was put off, in part because of the Winograd report. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said no new date has been set.
"We view this as an internal Israeli matter," Erekat said of the report. "We want to continue making peace with the Israeli government. Having said that, we hope that this report and the findings of this report will not further complicate and hinder attempts to revive the peace process."
Deputy Prime Minister Azzam al-Ahmed of Abbas's Fatah movement said he expected Olmert's domestic woes to overshadow his dealings with the Palestinians. "The difficulties are expected to increase after the report," said Ahmed. "Even before the report, I had pointed out that there is no real Israeli peace partner."