WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets Israeli lawmakers in his West Bank office and condemns "violence and the killing of Palestinians and Israelis"

Record ID: 565278

  • Title: WEST BANK: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets Israeli lawmakers in his West Bank office and condemns "violence and the killing of Palestinians and Israelis"
  • Date: 16th April 2014
  • Summary: RAMALLAH, WEST BANK (APRIL 16, 2014) (REUTERS) VEHICLES CARRYING ISRAELI LAWMAKERS ARRIVING AT PALESTINIAN PRESIDENTIAL HEADQUARTERS AHEAD OF A MEETING WITH PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS PALESTINIAN FLAG ISRAELI LAWMAKERS WALKING IN PRESIDENTIAL HEADQUARTERS' COMPOUND LAWMAKERS ENTERING BUILDING VARIOUS OF ABBAS MEETING WITH ISRAELI LAWMAKERS IN HIS OFFICE ISRAELI LAWMAKERS AND PALESTINIAN REPRESENTATIVES STANDING ON STAGE AHEAD OF NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS SITTING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) MEMBER OF FATAH CENTRAL COMMITTEE, MOHAMMED AL-MADANI, SAYING: "Through this delegation, president Abu Mazen (referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) wished a happy holiday to the Israeli people on the occasion of the Jewish Passover. Important issues were also discussed. He also condemned violence and the killing of Palestinians and Israelis." JOURNALISTS SITTING DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) SPOKESMAN FOR PRESIDENT MAHMOUD ABBAS, NABIL ABU RUDEINEH, SAYING: "We are against violence and against a return to violence. What is now required is introducing the principles that will allow an extension (of the peace talks). If there is no agreement on this, we are ready. If Israel does not fulfill its end of the bargain, the Palestinian leadership will meet again in order to make the right decision." JOURNALIST ASKING QUESTION (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEMBER OF THE ISRAELI LABOUR PARTY, HILIK BAR, SAYING: "The meeting with president Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) was good. He condemned the terror attack in Hebron, in Tarqumia, and we were happy that he condemned also every kind of terror." JOURNALISTS LISTENING PEOPLE LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 1st May 2014 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3QNHFXT38A6M3DWQNPAP4GDLT
  • Story Text: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas condemned "violence and the killing of Palestinians and Israelis," during a meeting with a group of Israeli lawmakers at his Ramallah office on Wednesday (April 16).
    The group were in the West Bank to discuss the breakdown in peace negotiations between the two sides and to look at possible ways of resolve the impasse.
    A spokesman for Abbas suggested it had been a cordial and constructive meeting.
    "Through this delegation, president Abu Mazen (referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas) wished a happy holiday to the Israeli people on the occasion of the Jewish Passover. Important issues were also discussed. He also condemned violence and the killing of Palestinians and Israelis," said Mohammed al-Madani, a member of the Central Committee of Abbas' Fatah party.
    A meeting between Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators scheduled for Wednesday (April 16) was postponed after the killing of an Israeli in a shooting attack in the occupied West Bank on Monday (April 14).
    A spokesman for Abbas said the session had been rescheduled for Thursday (April 17) at the request of the United States. Washington is struggling to extend the talks, which are on the verge of collapse, beyond an April 29 deadline for a peace deal.
    An Israeli official confirmed the meeting had been delayed but declined to say who asked for the postponement or when teams would reconvene to try to breathe new life into the U.S.-driven peace process.
    Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a spokesman for Abbas, said the talks needed to be extended beyond the original deadline.
    "We are against violence and against a return to violence. What is now required is introducing the principles that will allow an extension (of the peace talks). If there is no agreement on this, we are ready. If Israel does not fulfill its end of the bargain, the Palestinian leadership will meet again in order to make the right decision," he told a news conference.
    The killing on Monday of an off-duty police officer and the wounding of his wife in a shooting attack on their car in the West Bank as they drove to a Passover holiday dinner, struck an emotional chord in Israel.
    It drew calls from members of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's cabinet to postpone the peace talks, at least until after 47-year-old Baruch Mizrahi's funeral on Wednesday.
    There was no claim of responsibility for the shooting. But in a statement on Tuesday (April 15), Netanyahu said the Palestinian Authority was to blame for anti-Israeli incitement that he alleged led to the attack, and complained that Abbas had not issued a condemnation.
    After Wednesday's meeting, Hilil Bar, the head of the Israeli delegation, said Abbas had spoken out against the attack.
    "The meeting with president Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) was good. He condemned the terror attack in Hebron, in Tarqumia, and we were happy that he condemned also every kind of terror," he said.
    Wednesday's gathering in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, was scheduled before Monday's attack.
    Abbas has held several meetings in the past with Israeli legislators, mainly members of the parliamentary opposition.
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