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Last update - 16:59 22/07/2008 Abbas warns: PA forces to be pulled out of West Bank if IDF raids persist By Haaretz Service and Reuters Tags: Peres, Abbas, Lieberman Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned on Tuesday that he would withdraw his forces from West Bank cities unless the Israel Defense Forces halted their frequent raids into these areas. Such a step would be a serious setback to U.S.-backed Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and perhaps even signal that Abbas is giving up on efforts to achieve a deal. Advertisement Parallel to negotiations with Israel, Abbas has been trying to exert more control in the West Bank and to rein in militants. At the same time, the international community is training Abbas' forces, with hopes they will one day take over from Israel in maintaining order throughout the territory. In recent months, Abbas has deployed forces in two of the unruliest towns, Nablus and Jenin, and residents once harassed by vigilante gunmen say they feel more secure. However, the IDF argues that the Palestinian forces often recruit the former gunmen to their ranks instead of jailing them. Despite the presence of the Palestinian forces, Israeli troops have continued raiding Palestinian cities, prompting complaints by Abbas that this is undermining his authority. On Tuesday, Abbas met with legislators from his Fatah movement, and was asked what he plans to do about the frequent Israeli raids. Earlier, he met with President Shimon Peres at the latter's Jerusalem residence. The Palestinian president said he would bring up the issue on Thursday in his scheduled meeting with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. "We are going to tell the Israelis the day after tomorrow that if the incursions and the aggression and the insults to the Palestinian police continue, we will withdraw these [Palestinian] forces," Abbas said. His comments were carried by the official Palestinian news agency WAFA and confirmed by an aide, as well as a participant in the Fatah meeting, legislator Najah Abu Bakr. Government spokesman Mark Regev said that Israel supports efforts to strengthen the Palestinian security forces but did not directly respond to Abbas' threat to withdraw the forces. Israeli-Palestinian negotiations have made little progress since being relaunced in a U.S.-hosted summit in Annapolis, Maryland last November, and a year-end target for a peace deal appears increasingly out of reach. Abbas and his aides have been complaining with growing frequency about Israeli actions they say violate the letter and the spirit of the talks. There are many obstacles in the path of negotiations, most importantly settlement expansion, roadblocks and daily incursions into West Bank cities, Abbas said Tuesday, according to WAFA. However, Abbas said he still hopes to reach the deal by the end of the year. Earlier Tuesday, Peres hosted Abbas in the first meeting between Israeli and Palestinian heads of state to be held at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. The meeting was overshadowed by Tuesday's bulldozer rampage attack just a few miles away, the second of its kind in the last month, which left 16 people wounded. Abbas, immediately following his meeting with Peres, condemned the attack. Peres spoke after the red-carpet welcome for Abbas, saying "I am full of confidence the problems will be resolved. I feel both sides believe there is no alternative to peace." Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said before the meeting that Abbas would seek Peres's help to halt "settlement expansion that is undermining peace talks" that began at the Annapolis conference. In his remarks at the Presidential Residence, Abbas said: "Despite the passage of time, despite difficulties and obstacles, there is an end to this long conflict." Peres said he hoped to reassure Abbas that Israel remained committed to the U.S.-brokered negotiations despite a political crisis revolving around corruption allegations against Olmert that could lead to an early election. "Although ... things on our side are not the most stable, I want to make clear that the desire to achieve peace remains stable," Peres, a former prime minister and Nobel peace prize laureate, told Israel Radio ahead of the meeting. A Palestinian flag and an Israeli flag provided a backdrop as both men posed for photographs. Such trappings are absent when Abbas and Olmert meet at the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem. Although some Israeli media accounts termed the meeting historic, the prospect of the event generated little enthusiasm from either side, and anger on the part of an opposition MK. The visit, which according to media reports will feature a red-carpet welcome and Palestinian flags alongside the Star of David, comes at a time of little apparent movement in negotiations between the sides, and a sense that the waning Bush administration can do little to generate new momentum. Abbas' late predecessor Yasser Arafat, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1994 along with Peres and then-prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, was never invited to the President's Residence. Former president Ezer Weizman did, however, invite Arafat to his private home in the seaside resort of Caesaria. Peres said in remarks broadcast Tuesday that the political situation would not affect Israel's commitment to pursue the peace process, an apparent reference to the turmoil surrounding Olmert's legal woes and his beleaguered Kadima party. The meeting prompted anger from Yisrael Beiteinu chief MK Avigdor Lieberman, who compared it to last week's Israel-Hezbollah prisoner exchange, in which Israel freed Samir Kuntar, a Lebanese who killed a father and his small daughter in a grisly 1979 terror attack in northern Israel, for the bodies of IDF reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. "This continues the same policy of defeatism, surrender, and groveling which we've seen in recent days," Lieberman said. "This is the same Abu Mazen [Abbas] who hurried to congratulate Samir Kuntar, and makes sure to condemn every Israeli military operation, but was unable to remember to console the bereaved Israeli families." Ziad Abu Zayyad, a former senior Palestinian Authority figure, told Army Radio ahead of the meeting that Palestinians had little interest in the event, noting that settlement construction was continuing and that the peace process had been stalled for some time. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Baptism by fire Bradley Burston offers 10 Mideast traps for Barack Obama to avoid. A second life 'Exodus' passenger makes aliyah six decades after being turned away.   1.   MORE NON-ACCOMPLISHMENTS. MORE PLACEBO 09:05  |  Fred 22/07/08   2.   It`s all a matter of economics? 09:20  |  Helm of Chelm 22/07/08   3.   Will he bring up the issue of Abbas`s joy with Kuntar? 09:25  |  Binyamin Dissen 22/07/08   4.   Peres to host Abbas in `historic` visit to President;s Residence 09:27  |  martin list, m.d. 22/07/08   5.   corrupt Journalism 09:37  |  Ramallah Man 22/07/08   6.   Abbas has lost his dignity 10:28  |  Falastini 22/07/08   7.   must be the thousand times 11:03  |  sad 22/07/08   8.   Peres is either losing it or just about or is he 11:27  |  Steve the Pals. 22/07/08   9.   Was Peres in the country last week? 11:55  |  Shalom Freedman 22/07/08   10.   Is this .... 12:40  |  Chris 22/07/08   11.   Are these our ?Peace partners?? 13:02  |  Jean Van Daem 22/07/08   12.   Is a ?Palestinian State? legitimate? 13:04  |  Jean Van Daem 22/07/08   13.   Arafat in 1970, with candid simplicity, told the reporter... 13:06  |  Jean Van Daem 22/07/08   14.   #5 Ramallah man`s president 13:06  |  Ulf 22/07/08   15.   #5 Ramallah man`s president 13:11  |  Ulf 22/07/08   16.   Condemning Peres 13:56  |  Jackie 22/07/08   17.   After hosting Kuntar, Abbas won`t make any difference 13:58  |  Sal 22/07/08   18.   STEVE the PALS. Peres is trying.Your lot is very trying 13:59  |  PETER SM 22/07/08   19.   peres wants to thank abbas for claiming kuntar is a hero 15:49  |  Arie 22/07/08   20.   Abbas needs to stop the "peace process" 17:27  |  Natallie Durson 22/07/08   21.   Abbas moving in the wrong direction 17:57  |  Jeremy 22/07/08   22.   The Pa;lestinian Uncle Tom,bleeps and whines,he should be tried 19:10  |  lakshmi 22/07/08   23.   "Pulled out?? How would anyone even know? 19:25  |  Dr. L. Brnd 22/07/08   24.   falastini # 6 the only diginity the palestinians know is 19:39  |  terrornator 22/07/08   25.   ramallh man,abbas is the best thing going for you 19:44  |  terrornator 22/07/08   26.   20 Jeremy - Abbas Has Few Options 20:37  |  Mark of Lewiston 22/07/08   27.   No negotiations with arabs 20:49  |  Donald A. Rosenberg 22/07/08   28.   READ Ramallah Man, Lakshmi & Falastini 20:49  |  Mark of Lewiston 22/07/08   29.   Abbas`s threats 20:54  |  Cynic #2 22/07/08   30.   Typical whining 21:26  |  Gee 22/07/08   31.   #22 Mark Lewiston 21:55  |  Jeremy 22/07/08   32.   Jeremy`s a naive buffoon. 22:40  |  Ibrahim 22/07/08   33.   Gee...Israel does much more terrorizing. 22:42  |  Ibrahim 22/07/08   34.   Wow, who will protect us when they leave? 22:49  |  Colonel 22/07/08   35.   # 30 jeremy 23:20  |  Axel 22/07/08   36.   30 Jeremy - Try More Archives 23:26  |  Mark of Lewiston 22/07/08   37.   abbas hugs and threatens olmert!!!! 23:29  |  sad 22/07/08   38.   30 Jeremy - Try More Archives 2 23:37  |  Mark of Lewiston 22/07/08   39.   more than a serious set back to U.S. policy 00:00  |  Brad 23/07/08   40.   PA? PLO? Moslem brotherhood? 00:18  |  Mark 23/07/08   41.   5 Ramallah Man,spot on! Check my post 21 00:30  |  lakshmi 23/07/08   42.   Well then thats appropriate, Ramallah Man 01:15  |  Scharker Yid 23/07/08   43.   Pull out 01:49  |  George 23/07/08   44.   Amazing! Total agreement among all posters-Abbas must go! 02:28  |  Voice of Reason 23/07/08

Read & React Bradley Burston: Ten Mideast traps for Obama to avoid Responses: 45 Israel keen to crack down on East Jerusalem Responses: 26 'No excuses,' says visiting Obama about bulldozer terrorist Responses: 22 Hezbollah chief to UN: Ready to swap more prisoners with Israel Responses: 17 Akiva Eldar: Divide J'lem, for the sake of the Jewish state Responses: 4 Aluf Benn: Israel's slap in the face from America Responses: 6 Rosner's Domain Is Jimmy Carter 'tone-deaf' to Jewish sensibilities? (WTR) Will Lebanon pay the price for the prisoner swap deal? What will Obama look for in Jerusalem (and Ramallah)? Why does Israel keep agreeing to prisoner swaps? More Headlines 07:28 Israel keen to crack down on East Jerusalem 08:27 ANALYSIS / Timing of second Jerusalem bulldozer attack was amazing 10:10 Obama kicks off packed Israel trip at breakfast talks with Barak 05:51 ANALYSIS / Obama visiting Israel to impress Jewish voters, not Israelis 09:20 Hezbollah chief to UN: Ready to swap more prisoners with Israel 09:23 UN: Violence in Gaza dropping, peace developments on rise 10:07 Goodbye Golden Girl: Comic actress Estelle Getty dies at 84 04:55 Iran hackers target Israeli Web site over message by Jewish group 09:18 Senior IDF officer seriously hurt after jeep flips over in south 09:47 Livni: When I'm PM, I want a unity coalition with Labor and Likud 02:55 Talansky to Haaretz: Olmert most astute politician I've met 01:48 Olmert government to hold first meeting on global jihad Wednesday 05:31 Man ordered to pay wife NIS 55,000 for refusing to divorce her 06:50 New Clean Air legislation sees heavy fines, jail for polluters Previous Editions Select Day 22 jul 21 jul 20 jul 18 jul 17 jul 16 jul 15 jul 14 jul 13 jul 11 jul 10 jul 09 jul

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