Erekat: PA's future in doubt

Ma'an
President Mahmoud Abbas has come to the conclusion that the Palestinian Authority is no longer a relevant institution, chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat told the New York Times on Monday.

...According to Erekat, the president lost faith in the 14-year-old body, itself meant to be temporary, when it became clear establishing an independent state was no longer likely to happen. "I think he is realizing that he came all this way with the peace process in order to create a Palestinian state but he sees no state coming." Without that prospect, Abbas no longer feels relevant, Erekat said.

Abbas' spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, warned that "the current political vacuum which resulted from the failure of the peace process will soon be filled with violence leading to a serious shake up in the security of the whole region." To avoid this, he said, "the US administration should immediately start exerting pressure on the government of Israel and make them comply with their share of the "peace process," he added, according to the PA's WAFA news agency.

Abbas' announcement came last Thursday in Ramallah. Confirming rumors, he said the decision was over Israel's intransigence on settlements and the international community's indifference to it. It also came days after Palestinians were left stunned when US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised as unprecedented Netanyahu's offer to limit West Bank construction to some 3,000 additional housing units. Full story