Abbas sees Palestinian state in 2013
RAMALLAH: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas pledged on Monday
that the coming year would see the implementation of Palestinian
independence.
Lighting a torch in the grounds of his West Bank headquarters to
start celebration of the the 48th anniversary of his Fatah movement he
spoke of last month's historic United Nations vote upgrading the
Palestinians's diplomatic standing, referring to it as the “birth
certificate” of a Palestinian state.
“We have a birth certificate... and we want to complete the march
toward full independence,” he said. “Next year, 2013, will be the year
of statehood and independence.”
Despite the UN vote and widespread international support for
Palestinian statehood, Israel still occupies the West Bank, maintains
tight controls of movement of goods and people to and from the Gaza
Strip and has annexed largely-Arab east Jerusalem.
Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians began in
September 2010 but ran around several weeks later over an intractable
dispute about settlement building, and international efforts to bring
the two sides closer together have so far led nowhere.
Fatah is on Tuesday to mark its anniversary in the Gaza Strip for the
first time since its rival, Hamas, seized power there in 2007.
AFP |