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U.S. President George W. Bush shaking hands with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington on Thursday. (Reuters)
Last update - 07:30 26/04/2008
Abbas: I failed in U.S., no progress in peace talks
By The Associated Press
Tags: U.S., Mahmoud Abbas 

WASHINGTON - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Friday that he failed to achieve any progress in Middle East peace talks with U.S. President George W. Bush and he is returning home from Washington with little to show for his visit.

In an interview with The Associated Press on Friday, the Palestinian leader sounded pessimistic about the prospects of achieving any deal with Israel this year, despite a big U.S. push that began five months ago at a Middle East peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland.

"Frankly, so far nothing has been achieved. But we are still conducting direct work to have a solution," Abbas said.
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On Thursday, Abbas asked Bush to tighten American monitoring over Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank.

"We demanded the Americans implement the first phase of the road map that talks about the cessation of settlement expansion," Abbas said, expressing disappointment the U.S. has not exerted more pressure on Israel to stop. "This is the biggest blight that stands as a big rock in the path of negotiations."

Israel is pushing forward with controversial building projects on disputed land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and has so far refused to evacuate illegal settlement outposts, release Palestinian prisoners, halt military incursions, and dismantle roadblocks that severely disrupt daily life.

Abbas' aides said he was also upset after his lunch Thursday with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. While discussing what a peace deal would look like, Rice did not mention the Palestinian goal of creating a state based on borders before Israel captured Gaza from Egypt and the West Bank from Jordan during the 1967 Six-Day war.

"We demanded that they talk about the '67 borders," Abbas told AP, showing a rare flash of anger. "None of them talks about the '67 borders."

Asked whether U.S. officials offered any new U.S. proposals, Abbas said no.

"They are exerting efforts. And we are still negotiating," he said, but he noted that no progress had been made on any of the core issues.

"All the files are still open. None of them are concluded. The situation is still as it was," Abbas said, speaking in Arabic.

The main unresolved issues include the final borders of a Palestinian state, the fate of Jerusalem, disputed Israeli settlements and Palestinian refugees.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Bush did not respond directly when Abbas brought up the issue of Palestinian objections to continuing Israeli settlement expansion when the two leaders met Thursday at the White House.

"Bush told him [Abbas] that 'I'm focusing on the bigger picture,'" Erekat explained.

Abbas said he was looking for a full Middle East peace framework agreement that would be detailed and includes timetables, while the Israelis have signaled that a declaration of principles would be enough of an achievement before Bush leaves office in January 2009.

"We don't want a declaration of principle because we had one," Abbas said, referring to the 1993 peace agreement reached at Oslo between the Palestinians and Israel. "Now we want a normal agreement. And then we can go for the details."

Despite his disappointment, Abbas said he would still meet with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert regularly in hopes of achieving a deal. But there are no three-way talks scheduled anytime soon with Bush, Abbas and Olmert.

Bush is scheduled to visit Israel in May to help Olmert celebrate the country's 60th anniversary, and then the U.S. president will travel to the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to see Abbas separately.

"It will be a bilateral meeting between me and Bush. That is the meeting I was invited for," Abbas said.

Abbas said the one thing he did achieve during his U.S visit was to lay out the Palestinian conditions for any peace deal and press his case that he cannot go for any partial agreement because the Palestinian people would not accept it.

"We have made clear our position to the president, to the State Department and to the Congress," Abbas said during the 15-minute interview in his hotel room in Washington. "And now our position is very clear to all of them."

Abbas' moderate and Western-backed government rules the West Bank, the territory that would eventually form the bulk of an independent Palestinian state. Hamas, the Islamic militant group that seized control of Gaza and serves a rival force to Abbas, is not involved in the peace negotiations with Israel.

Abbas has been losing popular support for the peace process due to a lack of any changes on the ground for people whose daily lives have been disrupted by Israeli checkpoints and roadblocks that Israel says are meant to maintain security and stop militant attacks on Israeli citizens.


Related articles:
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  • Abbas asks Bush to keep closer eye on settlement expansion
  • Bush invites Abbas to U.S. for talks on Palestinian state
  • Olmert, Bush and Abbas to hold three-way summit in Jerusalem
  • Olmert vows to 'forge historic path' toward peace with Palestinians
  • Israel, PA agree to strive for deal by end of 2008
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      1.   Abbass would better off counting on Iranian support 23:21  |  Cerdic 25/04/08
      2.   Heard this all before 23:30  |  SMF 25/04/08
      3.   Really What Did You Expect 23:32  |  Abe 25/04/08
      4.   the comedy continues for another arab terrorist state 23:39  |  v hardman 25/04/08
      5.   I cant believe it 23:41  |  billy jack 25/04/08
      6.   What took you so long to see it? 23:44  |  Mary 25/04/08
      7.   If Abbas talks to Iran, only then Israelis would accept peace 23:46  |  Aounist 25/04/08
      8.   WE TOLD YOU, PRESIDENT ABBAS, THAT THE WARMONGERS WERE TOYING WIT 23:47  |  Mohamed MALLECK 25/04/08
      9.   Bush does what AIPAC says and wants.There will never be peace! 23:57  |  Jim 25/04/08
      10.   Abbas and Erekat failed and need to give way to elected leaders.. 23:59  |  Moe 25/04/08
      11.   re v hardman 00:02  |  billy jack 26/04/08
      12.   Abbas wants Pal not Israeli Liberty 00:04  |  Zev 26/04/08
      13.   How Abbas can save himself 00:16  |  Tosefta 26/04/08
      14.   Abbas DEMANDS? 00:25  |  Mike 26/04/08
      15.   Pals can achieve undisrupted life by stopping to target Israelis 00:30  |  Sam 26/04/08
      16.   Well, there you have it! President Abbas set the conditions... 00:36  |  Smadar 26/04/08
      17.   Abbas 00:38  |  Zouzou 26/04/08
      18.   Abbas is a fool 00:39  |  The Arab Hammer 26/04/08
      19.   refute me? 00:41  |  losman 26/04/08
      20.   go away Mr Abbass! 00:43  |  nabulsi 26/04/08
      21.   To Zev: Why not resettle the Palestinian refugees instead?....... 00:48  |  John 26/04/08
      22.   Abbas proves a point 00:55  |  Avrum 26/04/08
      23.   Abbas and the never ending chain of "cheating"....... 00:59  |  Swiss (Dino) 26/04/08
      24.   False Hope 01:07  |  Cool B 26/04/08
      25.   Only the Pals can make peace, and they`re failing 01:07  |  Joe Sittizen 26/04/08
      26.   Disputed land 01:11  |  Fair 26/04/08
      27.   He didn`t fail... 01:19  |  Blogowitz 26/04/08
      28.   Abbas paving the way for Hamas takeover and Intifada III 01:21  |  Fortuna Benmayor 26/04/08
      29.   #13. Hamas doe not need Abbas and Co. 01:22  |  ManintheMIddle 26/04/08
      30.   There goes 2 state solution!! 01:26  |  beijing0808 26/04/08
      31.   get over it you lost stop making demands 01:26  |  bored 26/04/08
      32.   re sam 01:30  |  billy jack 26/04/08
      33.   Abbas Should Disband The PA 01:36  |  MB 26/04/08
      34.   Abbas & Company confuse funding the PA with ending the Occupation 01:42  |  El-Birawi 26/04/08
      35.   addendum to #19 01:42  |  losman 26/04/08
      36.   Israels greedy nature will ensure 01:47  |  Kiwi girl 26/04/08
      37.   # 9 JIM: No, Bush is just utterly mad! 01:47  |  Mohamed MALLECK 26/04/08
      38.   Abbas lacks the courage to disband the PA 01:49  |  El-Birawi 26/04/08
      39.   You want to talk `67 borders? 01:49  |  Jon 26/04/08
      40.   abbas NO SUCH BORDERS, ONLY pres of plo! 01:51  |  DOV KORET 26/04/08
      41.   Re: #25: Only the Pals can make peace... 02:01  |  Jerry 26/04/08
      42.   Palestinians should seek asylum in Europe. 02:11  |  Dutch Dirk 26/04/08
      43.   YOU BLEW IT B/C YOU ARE A TERRORIST!!! 02:23  |  PhillyJew 26/04/08
      44.   billy jack, stop! You`re killing me. 02:26  |  ManintheMIddle 26/04/08
      45.   BRING A MAP 02:43  |  Mark of Lewiston 26/04/08
      46.   Really the Pals should just give up 02:50  |  Aphemia 26/04/08
      47.   WELL SAID JON DONT CRY WHEN ISRAEL WIN YOUR LAND IN BATTLE!!! 02:59  |  Will 26/04/08
      48.   Arab Illusions 03:17  |  guy 26/04/08
      49.   Talks 03:42  |  Fareed 26/04/08
      50.   Pals could get 67 borders in 47, now too late 03:42  |  Zvi 26/04/08
      51.   8 Mohammed Malleck as you probably know already,Hamas has said 03:45  |  lakshmi 26/04/08
      52.   losman has lost his mind 03:55  |  A Jew in the U.S. 26/04/08
      53.   Duh 04:14  |  Bazmann 26/04/08
      54.   What Happened Anti-Israel Crowd? 04:20  |  Still Time 26/04/08
      55.   WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE MR. ABBAS 04:29  |  ALEX 26/04/08
      56.   The main unresolved issues ... 04:29  |  Jim 26/04/08
      57.   Abbas is a dolt 04:30  |  Steve 26/04/08
      58.   Single state solution 04:32  |  Mike 26/04/08
      59.   Next stop 04:34  |  Bazmann 26/04/08
      60.   Abbas, you make no concessions so you make no progress! 04:36  |  McQueen 26/04/08
      61.   #50 And when you`ve taken it all, Zvi? 04:51  |  Johnboy 26/04/08
      62.   US Does not want a Palestininan State 04:59  |  Avi 26/04/08
      63.   If I were a Palestinian 05:15  |  candida 26/04/08
      64.   Abbas is a joke.. 05:17  |  Steve 26/04/08
      65.   23Dino Main Cheating is by Abbas: Support of terrorists. 05:29  |  Rob 26/04/08
      66.   Locked up so deep, it must hurt 05:46  |  TonyL 26/04/08
      67.   What Peace are they talking about? 05:52  |  Someone 26/04/08
      68.   Memo to Abbas 05:55  |  TonyL 26/04/08
      69.   welllook at it this way Rob..if you steal all their land 06:02  |  think about it