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Moscow talks in doubt as Abbas, Netanyahu stubborn on preconditions

Xinhua, September 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

A senior Palestinian official denied on Tuesday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed in principle to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Moscow.

Ahmed Majdalani, the senior official in Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), said in an emailed press statement "it is not true that President Abu Mazen (Abbas) agreed to meet with Netanyahu in Moscow."

"All what had been published in the media in this respect was untrue," he said, adding "any meeting (with Netanyahu) must be preceded by arrangements and a clear Israeli position toward the settlements and the peace talks."

He asserted that in case Israel accepts these conditions, mainly setting up a timetable for the negotiations and the release of the Palestinian prisoners detained before Oslo agreement in 1994, "then there will be no obstacle for such a meeting."

Earlier on Tuesday, a senior Palestinian diplomat told Xinhua that President Abbas agrees in principle to meet in Moscow with Netanyahu, but clarified that Israel until now is evading.

Abdul Hafeez Noufal, the PLO ambassador to Russia, told Xinhua in a telephone conversation that President Abbas accepted the Russian initiative to hold a three-way meeting with Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

However, Noufal explained that Israel until now "is evading from this."

The prominent Palestinian diplomat said that thanks to Russia for offering such an initiative amid the current tensed and difficult political situation, adding "but the Israeli side is still reluctant and wastes time."

"Now we are talking about a Russian initiative that we welcomed it in principle and the Israeli side is still evading from it. In fact we haven't reached yet to a stage to speak about conditions and details," said Nloufal.

Earlier, Abbas conditioned on Saturday that Israel has to implement its commitments toward the Palestinians in order to hold a meeting with Netanyahu and discuss permanent status questions.

"We are demanding from the Israeli side to stop the illegal settlement on our Palestinian lands and release our prisoners," Abbas had said in Ramallah on Saturday, according to the state-run Palestinian news agency (WAFA).

Egypt and France had also presented initiatives to push forward the peace process that has been stalled between Israel and the Palestinians since the suspension of their direct talks sponsored by the U.S. in April 2014. Endit