WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses Fatah movement's Revolutionary Council
Record ID:
563066
WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses Fatah movement's Revolutionary Council
- Title: WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas addresses Fatah movement's Revolutionary Council
- Date: 16th January 2010
- Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (JANUARY 15, 2010) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF BUILDING AT PALESTINIAN PRESIDENTIAL COMPOUND PALESTINIAN FLAG FATAH REVOLUTIONARY COUNCIL MEMBERS ARRIVING SECURITY PERSONNEL PALESTINIAN PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS ENTERING MEETING ROOM SIGN IN BACKGROUND ABBAS ADDRESSING COUNCIL AS SEEN FROM THE BACK ABBAS WAVING CAMERA ABBAS SITTING ON PANEL SECURITY PERSONNEL VARIOUS OF MEETING
- Embargoed: 31st January 2010 12:00
- Keywords:
- Topics: Domestic Politics
- Reuters ID: LVASRAXY7P47WT6E9C7653BRS8J
- Story Text: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday (January 15) addressed Fatah party's Revolutionary Council.
The Revolutionary Council, consisting of some 128 members, convenes every three months. It is charged with implementing resolutions of the congress and monitoring the performance of Fatah's Central Committee.
Earlier in the week, he had made clear that he still wants U.S. President Barack Obama to press Israel to halt all expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem before he would consider new negotiations.
Appearing to pour cold water on the new U.S. push, Abbas said in an interview he would resist pressure to resume negotiations unless his demands on Jewish settlements were met.
Abbas has insisted on a complete halt to Israeli building in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem and is not satisfied with a partial, temporary freeze ordered by Netanyahu. Abbas has so far resisted U.S. pressure to return to talks with Israel.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month urged Israel and the Palestinians to resume negotiations straight away and to focus immediately on agreeing the borders of a Palestinian state and the status of Jerusalem, suggesting this could break the deadlock over Jewish settlements.
U.S. and regional officials have said the United States is looking at what assurances it might provide the Palestinians and Israelis -- possibly in the form of letters -- that might help the parties get back to the table.
Obama disappointed Abbas last year when he softened his demand for a settlement building freeze, instead calling on Israel to exercise restraint in construction in the lands it captured in a 1967 Middle East war. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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