CAIRO: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Thursday stood firm on his demand for a halt to settlement building before talks with Israel can resume, as US officials scrambled to rescue the collapsing peace process. “We will not accept negotiations as long as settlements continue,” Abbas told reporters in Cairo after more than one hour of talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. “We have made this clear to the Americans: without a halt to settlements, no negotiations.” Abbas said he also wanted to hear explanations from US officials as to why Washington failed to persuade Israel to freeze settlements in the West Bank and annexed east Jerusalem. “We want to know what happened exactly between America and Israel,” he said. Other Palestinian officials have indicated that indirect talks, including with Mitchell, are likely to be the immediate way forward in Washington's stuttering attempts to secure a peace deal by the end of 2011. Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Thursday he still favored direct peace talks. Abbas said a final decision on talks with Israel would be taken in consultation with Arab and Palestinian officials. “There must be clear references for peace... and we will discuss all that with the follow-up committee, the Palestinian leadership and after that there will be a decision.” Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat has said Washington should recognize an independent Palestinian state in response to Israel's refusal to freeze settlement building. In his comments Thursday, Abbas reiterated that a future state should be within the 1967 boundaries. Erakat was Thursday heading to the United States to hold talks with top US officials over the crisis in peace talks. – Agence France
