No talks unless settlements halted - Arab League
EGYPT: There should be no Israeli-Palestinian talks, direct or
indirect, unless Israel halts plans to build 1,600 settler homes in
annexed east Jerusalem, the Arab League said Wednesday.
Arab League Chief Amr Mussa told reporters that Palestinian president
Mahmud Abbas had told him he would not take part in talks in the current
circumstances.
“The Israeli measures must be stopped before any discussion on a
resumption of talks, direct or indirect,” between Israel and the
Palestinians, the Arab League said a statement.
The statement came after an emergency meeting of ambassadors of the
Arab League’s 13 member states.
“If the measures taken by the Israelis for the construction of
hundreds of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories,
including east Jerusalem, are not halted immediately, the proposed talks
would be useless,” it said.
Mussa told reporters: “Our position is clear: there cannot be talks,
direct or indirect, if the recent Israeli decisions are not cancelled,”
referring to Tuesday’s announcement on settlements by the interior
ministry.
If the situation had not changed in the next two or three days,
another meeting of the Arab League committee following the peace talks
would be called, he added.
Israel’s green light to the settlements came just as US Vice
President Joe Biden was visiting Israel, having just managed to get a
resumption of indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks.
Biden has already denounced the Israeli move, warning that the
settlements risked undermining the new talks.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon also attacked the Israeli move in a statement
issued Tuesday, saying the settlements were illegal under international
law.
Cairo, AFP |