Abbas says Annapolis conference achieved its goal Sat Dec 1, 4:38 PM ET
CAIRO (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said on Saturday that this week's Middle East peace conference in the United States met its goal of jumpstarting Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The main goal of the Annapolis conference was to launch negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis and this is in fact what happened, Abbas told reporters in Cairo after meeting Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.Some had been under the illusion that the negotiations would actually start in (Annapolis) or that a deal would be struck, he said.At the meeting in Annapolis, Maryland, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert formally restarted negotiations after a seven-year freeze in the peace process, aiming to conclude a comprehensive agreement by the end of 2008.
Abbas said a steering committee would be set up that would begin negotiations on December 12 including on the core issues such as the status of Jerusalem, the borders of a future Palestinian state and the fate of Palestinian refugees.Former Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei will head the Palestinian negotiating team, Abbas said.The committee will meet continuously over the course of 2008 according to a joint document released in Annapolis.In the document, both sides agreed to create a mechanism to monitor the implementation of a roadmap for peace, which calls for establishing a Palestinian state living in peace alongside a secure Israel.There are two other meetings after Annapolis, one in Paris and the other in Moscow, Abbas said.The Palestinian president later travelled to Saudi Arabia, where he held talks with King Abdullah about the Annapolis meeting, the official SPA news agency reported.International donors are expected to meet in Paris later this month to coordinate a three-year aid programme for the Palestinians, and next month Russia is to organise a follow-up meeting to the Annapolis talks, according to a European diplomat.
