- Title: WEST BANK: Mitchell meets Abbas, says Gaza could be opened to commercial goods
- Date: 30th January 2009
- Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY 29, 2009) (REUTERS) U.S. MIDDLE EAST ENVOY GEORGE MITCHELL'S CONVOY ARRIVING AT PALESTINIAN PRESIDENTIAL COMPOUND SENIOR PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR, SAEB EREKAT, GREETING MITCHELL EREKAT AND MITCHELL ENTERING BUILDING MEETING BETWEEN MITCHELL AND PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS MITCHELL TALKING TO ABBAS / MITCHELL AND ABBAS SHAKING HANDS ABBAS LISTENING TO MITCHELL
- Embargoed: 14th February 2009 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA4QDO23FJJ1JAJL1XNBVO5DLI5
- Story Text: U.S. President Barack Obama's envoy to the Middle East meets Palestinian President and says Gaza crossings should be opened for the flow of legal goods.
U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell said on Thursday (January 29) that opening the Gaza Strip to commercial goods would help to choke off smuggling that Israel fears could replenish Hamas's arsenal after the 22-day war in the enclave.
But he said the Palestinian Authority of President Mahmoud Abbas must help to supervise the crossings, a demand that has been a major sticking point in Egyptian-brokered negotiations with the Gaza Strip's Hamas rulers for a long-term ceasefire.
Mitchell addressed journalists at a news conference in the West Bank city of Ramallah, where he met earlier with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and senior Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erekat.
"It's important to consolidate a sustainable and durable ceasefire and we encourage continuing efforts in that regard. To be successful in preventing the illicit traffic of arms into Gaza, there must be a mechanism to allow the flow of legal goods and that should be with the participation of the Palestinian Authority. President Obama has also underlined our commitment to a better future for all Palestinians, whose legitimate aspirations for an independent and viable state should be met. Lasting peace is our objective, and the United States will sustain an active commitment to reaching the goal of two states living side by side in peace, stability and security,"
Mitchell said after meeting Abbas.
Erekat, who also addressed journalists at the news conference, said that one of the objectives of the Israeli offensive in Gaza was to separate between the coastal territory and the West Bank.
"For the Israelis to continue their settlement activities, and at the same time to continue trying to separate between the West Bank and Gaza, because we believe that the Israeli attacks and aggression, one of the objective is to keep the West Bank separated from Gaza, and this cannot stand.
The West Bank, the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem are a single territorial unit, that's the territory of the Palestinian state, and we will spare no effort, as President Abbas told Mr. Mitchell, to pursue with the assistance for our Egyptian brothers, the path of national reconciliation," Erekat said.
Palestinian rocket attacks and Israeli air strikes over the past two days have threatened to undermine Mitchell's efforts to consolidate a fragile truce that went into effect on January 18.
Abbas's Western-backed Palestinian Authority holds sway only in the West Bank after Hamas wrested control of the Gaza Strip from his Fatah movement in fighting in 2007.
Under a 2005 agreement brokered by the United States, the Authority was to help oversee border crossings, while Hamas didn't receive any role in the deal. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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