RAMALLAH, August 19, 2006 (WAFA)- Headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, the PLO Executive Committee held its regular meeting in Ramallah.

At the beginning of its meeting, the Committee expressed its condemnation of the Israeli arrest of Dr. Naser al-Din ash-Sha’er, the Deputy Prime Minster and Minister of Education this morning in Ramallah. The Committee stressed that this random arrest in addition to the arrests of other Palestinian ministers and members of the Legislative Council as well as the Speaker of the House represent a flagrant violation of the agreements signed between the PLO and the State of Israel which guarantee full immunity to members of the Palestinian National Authority, its government and Legislative Council.

The Committee implored the UN Security Council as well as human rights committees across the world, and the League of Arab Nations to mobilize immediately to ensure the release of all Palestinian officials who were arrested lately and those who have been imprisoned for years. The Committee stressed that the goal of the arrests is to leave the Palestinian Authority paralysed, which represents a violation of the Oslo Accords and subsequent agreements. All the arrested members of the Legislative Council and the leaders of the political factions who have been imprisoned for years now must be released, the Committee emphasized.

The Committee also underlined that the case of the Israeli imprisoned soldier and reaching a deal on an exchange of prisoners must be settled without delay and in coordination with the good efforts exerted by the Government of Egypt. The absence of a solution to this case does not help our national interests and grants Israel more excuses to go on with its criminal actions against our people in Gaza and elsewhere in Palestine.

The Committee also discussed the issue of launching missiles from the Gaza Strip. It emphasised that the policy of Tahd’aa (calm down) under the current conditions represent a high national interest, and all Palestinians must abide by it so as not to grant Israel excuses to proceed with its aggression against our people and territories. In this regard, the Committee also stressed the necessity that the concerned Palestinian security forces assume their roles by deploying immediately on the borders.

The Committee, in the mean time, discussed what it considered the crime of kidnapping foreign journalists in Gaza and demanded that they be released immediately. The Committee pointed out that such actions harm our people, its image as a people that resists Israeli occupation, especially at a time when we desperately need international support and solidarity.

The Committee studied the report prepared by HE President Abbas with regard to the contacts that he’s had on the formation of a national unity government. After a thorough discussion of the issue and tackling all aspects of it, the Committee came to the conclusion that forming such a government is extremely urgent especially in the wake of the isolation that the Palestinian cause has suffered in the past few months.

The Committee highlighted the fact that since the formation of the current government, the political gains of the decades-age comprehensive national struggle have been struck a major blow with our people becoming poorer, our national economy badly regressing, lawlessness prevailing, brain migration, an intense state of social stress developing and the work of most ministries and government institutions nearing to complete paralysis.

The Committee added that while Israeli occupation with its racist and terrorist policies bears the brunt of responsibility for this destruction, we must go beyond this to design a comprehensive, agreed-upon pragmatic national plan so that our regional and international position will not be harmed and that Israel is deprived of further exploitation of the situation to do our people and our interests more harm.

The Committee concluded that there is a need for a new initiative to resolve the current dangerous state by forming a government that will assume national responsibility and be realistic in its discourse with the international community and in decisively and comprehensively resolving the state of lawlessness without hiding behind slogans that contradict reality and that only serve narrow factional goals instead of working to serve our national interests and goals.

The Committee explained that the conditions made with regard to forming a national unity government actually defeat the efforts to do just that and will not lead to resolving any of the current problems. These conditions show lack of seriousness; the goal behind setting them is basically to waste more time. Such conditions are mere political bids of a sort that will only harm our higher national interests.

The Executive Committee decided to give more time to the consultations that HE President Abbas will carry out during the coming few days. The Committee utterly refused the conditions set on the formation of the government. It also stressed the need to achieve national agreement on the political program of the coming government. The program should be in line with the National Agreement Prisoners’ Document and whereby we can end the boycott imposed on our people and authority.

The Executive Committee expressed its utter refusal of the irresponsible ideas raised lately that will render the Palestinian Authority and its continuity a bargaining chip to achieve the recognition of a domestic political actor by Israel and the United States. The Committee stressed that the Palestinian Authority is a national and historic achievement that was baptized with sacrifice and is not a bargaining chip for any party. It is the infant of the Palestinian Independent State on its path to freedom. The Independence project and its institutions must not be exploited by any faction.

The Committee expressed its complete solidarity with the Lebanese people and their heroic steadfastness in the face of the aggressive Israeli war. The Committee stressed its full support for the unity and sovereignty of Lebanon and emphasized the necessity of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon in accordance with UN resolutions.

The Committee also discussed the issue of Palestinian refugee camps and emphasised the need to ensure all civil rights for Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. It expressed its pride of the refugees’ stand in support of the Lebanese displaced persons which is an example of the strong relationship between the two peoples.

The Committee studied the possibility of initiating a new political project to revive the peace process and final status negotiations, especially in the wake of the failure of unilateral solutions. What happened in Lebanon proves once again the need to resolve the Palestine question in order to reach durable peace in the region. The solution of the Palestinian Israeli conflict must be in accordance with international legitimacy and must end occupation of all Arab and Palestinian lands.

(17:46 P) (14:46 GMT)