Ahead of meeting between Israeli, Palestinian negotiators, Fatah official accuses Israel of not pursing talks in good faith.

PA President Abbas and Chief PLO negotiator Saeb rekat !file".Photo# $ %& $S'&arek (ostafa

)* +,AL - A)% &OA( ,, (IC,A L .IL/ $, &O0A, LA1A$OFF 23'24'5263 A senior Palestinian official on (onda* accused Israel of using the crisis in the negotiations to shore up its list of demands, as the %S continued its intense efforts to end the deadlock in the peace process. 7At the re8uest of the parties, the %S facilitated a meeting between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators this e9ening to continue the intensi9e effort to resol9e their differences,7 State -epartment spokeswoman :en Psaki said in a statement (onda* night. 7;aps remain but both sides are committed to narrow the gaps.7 Psaki told reporters in .ashington that its en9o* to the region, (artin Ind*k, had met Sunda* night with :ustice (inister &<ipi Li9ni and Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb rekat. =Our focus on this point is on e9aluating where we are, and where we might go,> Psaki said. =.e?re focused on determining whether the process can mo9e forward.> Psaki said that the hours upon hours the parties ha9e spent with one another is an

=indication of their seriousness.> =&here are certainl* parties on both sides that don?t support a peace effort, and ha9e ne9er supported a peace effort,> she added. Foreign (inister A9igdor Liberman is also due to meet with %S Secretar* of State :ohn +err* in .ashington on .ednesda*. Psaki said that +err* has also been on the phone with Prime (inister )in*amin /etan*ahu and Palestinian Authorit* President (ahmoud Abbas. -etails from the Ind*k meetings ha9e not been released, but public statements b* Israeli and Palestinian officials indicate that the positions ha9e not budged. Israel is demanding that the Palestinians rescind their unilateral mo9e of affirming 6@ international treaties and con9entions, while the Palestinians are insisting that Israel must release 5A prisoners from its Bails as promised. relations committees in the ,ouse and Senate are in con9ersation with the State -epartment to determine whether the 6@ applications constitute a 9iolation of the appropriations bill b* the Palestinians. A -emocratic congressional aide told &he :erusalem Post that Capitol ,ill is alread* discussing fallout from a potential collapse in the talks, and from Palestinian mo9es in ;ene9a and /ew Cork. =&here is discussion about what these recent de9elopments mean for %S assistance to the Palestinians,> the aide said. =&he con9entions that the Palestinians Boined are not %/ agencies, but in the opinion of man* on the ,ill, the actions 9iolated the spirit of negotiations.> &he Foreign Operations Appropriations )ill of 5263 calls for a cancellation of %S aid to the Palestinian Authorit* should it attempt to =obtain membership in %/ agencies.> &he bill also restricts aid if the PA attempts to pursue action against Israel at the International Criminal Court. &he %S committed roughl* D332 million to the Palestinians for 5263, of which D42 million is securit* and the rest for economic support. =&he process has hit a point where some decisions that ha9e to be made can onl* be made b* the parties, and that it?s a moment where the*?9e reall* got to hear from !+err*" that he?s willing to walk awa* if the* can?t make those choices,> one senior Obama administration official told the Post on Saturda*.

=&his is our Bob,> the official added, characteri<ing +err*?s pri9ate message to both parties. =&his is what the president wants us to do.> Senior Fatah official /abil Sha?ath on Sunda* said that the Palestinians ha9e ruled out the possibilit* that the %S would cut off financial aid to the PA, noting that .ashington, unlike Israel, has not opposed the decision to Boin 6@ international organi<ations and treaties. /etan*ahu on Sunda* had warned that Israel would take unilateral steps of its own against the Palestinians if the* did not rescind their 6@ applications. It is eEpected that if /etan*ahu makes good on this threat, Israeli actions would be economic in nature, including withholding taE funds. Sha?ath said that Abbas is planning to ask the Arab countries during a meeting of the Arab League on .ednesda* to compensate the Palestinians in case Israel carries out its threat to impose economic sanctions. (ohamed Shta*eh, member of the Fatah Central Committee said# =Israel is tr*ing to eEtend the negotiations be*ond the agreed date !April 5F",> Shta*eh said. =.e sa* that the eEtension of the talks is not significant. .hat is more important is whether Israel is serious and has good intentions in pursuing the negotiations. Israel should release the prisoners, stop settlement construction and accept the 6FA4 borders as a basis for a twoGstate solution.> Shta*eh, who pre9iousl* ser9ed as member of the PA negotiating team with Israel, spoke out against the package deal that Israel had tried to work out to eEtend the negotiations, b* demanding the release of :onathan Pollard from an American prison as a preGcondition for freeing the Palestinian prisoners. As part of this deal Israel would also agree to free 322 more Palestinian prisoners. Shta*eh pointed out that the PA leadership has demands of its own, including the release of Fatah leader (arwan )arghouti, Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine Secretar*G;eneral Ahmed Sa?adat and PA ;en. Fuad Shobaki. ,e said the PA is opposed to the deportation of an* of the released prisoners. Shta*eh told reporters in $amallah that the Palestinians are also opposed to the demand to recogni<e Israel as a :ewish state. ,e said this demand is baseless, since the PLO and Israel had mutuall* recogni<ed each other in 6FFH.

=&he Palestinian people and their leadership ha9e alread* made a historic concession b* accepting a Palestinian state on the preG6FA4 lines, which makes up 55 percent of the si<e of historic Palestine,> Shta*eh said. ,e accused Israel of working to scuttle +err*?s efforts to achie9e peace b* =announcing new settlement proBects, more killings, arrests, house demolitions and 9iolence.> $eferring to Abbas?s latest mo9e, the Fatah official said that the decision to Boin 6@ international institutions and con9entions was a =natural right> and not onl* in retaliation for Israel?s refusal to release the prisoners at the end of (arch. /oting that relations between Israel and the PA were now at a turning point, Shta*eh said that the dispute between the two sides is o9er all issues, including prisoners, :erusalem, borders and Israeli militar* presence in the :ordan 0alle*. ,e brushed aside Israeli threats to impose economic sanctions on the Palestinians following Abbas?s mo9e, sa*ing the Palestinians were an*wa* being punished e9er* da* b* the presence of the =occupation and its practices.> Sha?ath said that the Palestinians are unable to make additional concessions =after we alread* ga9e up 4IJ of our lands to Israel.> ,e, too, was referring to the PLO?s acceptance of the twostate solution on the basis of the preG6FA4 lines. Sha?ath told the Palestinian (a?an news agenc* that the current %SGsponsored talks between the Palestinians and Israel were onl* aimed at eEtending the peace talks be*ond April. = 9en if we return to the negotiating table, we won?t accept a Palestinian state on an*thing less than the 6FA4 borders with east :erusalem as its capital,> Sha?ath said. =.e also can?t make more concessions. Isn?t it enough that we alread* ga9e up 4IJ of our land in fa9or of IsraelK .e also won?t recogni<e Israel as a :ewish state.> Sha?ath said that the PA leadership is planning to pursue its efforts to Boin more international institutions and treaties. PA (inister for Prisoners Affairs Issa Lara8i said that the PA demanded at Sunda* night?s meeting the release of 6,522 prisoners in addition to the fourth batch of inmates as a preGcondition for agreeing to the eEtension of the peace talks.

,e said that the PA has also demanded that Israel allow some H2 Palestinians who were deported to urope and the ;a<a Strip after barricading themsel9es inside the Church of /ati9it* in )ethlehem more than a decade ago to return to the .est )ank. According to Lara8i, Sunda*?s discussions did not achie9e progress because Israel was conditioning the release of the fourth batch of prisoners on Palestinian agreement to eEtend the talks after April. A PA source in $amallah, who asked not to be identified, said that the PA leadership might agree to eEtend the talks for two months onl*. &he source told the Palestinian dail* AlGLuds that the purpose of the talks would be onl* to =draw the borders> along the preG6FA4 lines. &he source stressed that Abbas would not backtrack on his decision to Boin international institutions and con9entions.