The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) is ready to resume peace talks with Israel as soon as the Jewish state implements the first article of the Road Map peace plan, President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday.

"We don't put conditions, but Israel has to carry out the first article of the Road Map which it (Israel) accepted more than seven years ago," Abbas told reporters in Ramallah.

Abbas referred to the US-backed peace guideline under which Israel is obliged to stop all settlement activities in the Palestinian territories, reopening the PNA offices in East Jerusalem and withdrawing forces from inside the Palestinian-controlled areas.

He said the Palestinians had implemented their obligations the Road Map outlined, including dismantling armed groups in the West Bank.

"We were asked to achieve security and stability. Thanks God that the security is available and the stability is existing," Abbas added.

The PNA is ready to resume the peace talks when Israel completes its obligations. "If Israel refused to recognize the two-state solution or to meet its duty, what should we negotiate about?" Abbas asked.

The negotiations between the PNA and Israelis were frozen when a right-wing government, led by hawkish Benjamin Netanyahu, took office in Israel in late March. Netanyahu has so far refused to adopt the Washington-backed two-state solution and to halt Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

US President Barack Obama is sending his envoy, George Mitchell, to the region in a bid to resume the peace negotiations.

(Xinhua News Agency June 9, 2009)