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Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
 (AP)
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Last update - 15:37 20/09/2009
PA: Trilateral summit doesn't mean resumption of peace talks
By Haaretz Service and Agencies
Tags: Hamas, Obama, Palestinians 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's attendance at an upcoming meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not constitute the resumption of peace talks, a Palestinian Authority spokesman said on Sunday.

"The meeting does not mean negotiations," said Nabil Abu Rdainah, who repeated the Palestinian demand that Israel should halt settlement expansion before full-blown talks resume.

On Saturday, the White House announced that U.S. President Barack Obama would host the meeting with Netanyahu and Abbas on Tuesday, in an effort to lay the groundwork for renewed peace talks.
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Abu Rdainah also reiterated a demand that Israel commit from the start of negotiations to reaching permanent resolutions of all the core issues of the conflict - including borders, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the status of Jerusalem.

"First, negotiations should focus on the six final status issues without any postponement of any issue," said Abu Rdainah. "Second, all settlement [activity] must be halted."

Hamas: Trilateral meet won't bind us to anything

Meanwhile, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Sunday condemned the meeting, asserting that it would not obligate the Palestinian people to anything.

Haniyeh made the comments at prayers in Gaza for the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. According to the Palestinian news agency Ma'an, he said the position of the Obama administration was no different from that of previous administrations, in that it called on Palestinians to "relinquish" their rights.

"From Gaza, from a place of strength, we say we will not relinquish our rights," he was quoted as telling the worshippers.

Hamas does not recognize the authority of Abbas to represent the Palestinian people. The Islamist group has been locked in a bitter feud with Abbas' rival Fatah movement ever since Hamas ousted it from Gaza in a bloody 2007 coup.

Haniyeh also urged the international community to embrace a damning United Nations on Israel's winter offensive against Hamas in Gaza that accused Israel of committing war crimes, Ma'an reported.

"We hope the report... will not be doomed to the fate of the dozens of reports that Israel has condemned for decades," the Hamas leader was quoted as saying.


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      1.   Palestine cannot function with two heads and divided 11:30  |  bar kochma 20/09/09
      2.   Sour Grapes 11:52  |  Mark of Lewiston 20/09/09
      3.   #1 Bar ,Pelestininas were always DIVIDED in CLANS.Meir was right 12:27  |  Israeli Realist 20/09/09
      4.   It is not a joking matter Mark 12:41  |  john Spear 20/09/09
      5.   i love hamas 13:09  |  J 20/09/09
      6.   Strange bedfellows 13:44  |  Avshalom 20/09/09
      7.   no peace in sight 15:31  |  Zvi 20/09/09
      8.   Hamas is the only honest voice and it must be reckoned with ... 16:11  |  Ben 20/09/09
      9.   No Joke John - They Are Allies 16:19  |  Mark of Lewiston 20/09/09
      10.   The longer the Palestinians dither 16:28  |  Yonatan 20/09/09
      11.   The construction of Jewish settlements in the WB 16:30  |  Yonatan 20/09/09
      12.   Pals have no answers, no solutions 16:58  |  The Prophet 20/09/09
      13.   If militants prevail 17:27  |  shmulik 20/09/09
      14.   no it just means more talks, talks and more talks 19:00  |  JO 20/09/09
      15.   Haniyeh`s "Place Of Strength" 19:01  |  Jeff Northridge 20/09/09
      16.   "The Arabs have never missed an opportunity to miss an... 19:03  |  Eitan 20/09/09
      17.   Obama has a step-wise policy... kicking & screaming & even biting 19:57  |  Esther 20/09/09
      18.   abbas cannot guarantee peace to israel 20:34  |  bernard ross 20/09/09
      19.   The Pals are not just missing another opportunity 21:37  |  US CITIZEN 20/09/09
      20.   lets pray 21:53  |  alan 20/09/09
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      22.   18 guarantee peace? 09:59  |  john Spear 21/09/09
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