RAMALLAH, October 15, 2009 (WAFA) – President Mahmoud Abbas urged Spain to continue its efforts that encourage peace in the region when it takes on the EU presidency in January.
In a joint press conference with the Visiting Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, Abbas said the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) will resume the negotiations if Israel stops Jewish settlement in the West Bank and withdraws from the occupied Palestinian territory. 'The settlements are illegal because they are built on lands that would be part of the future Palestinian.”
Zapatero said that his country will intensify efforts to promote peace in the Middle East and push for a Palestinian statehood when his country takes on the rotating EU presidency.
'The situation is available more than any time' to create a Palestinian statehood alongside Israel, Zapatero said in a press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
During Zapatero's visit to Ramallah, his first one, the PNA and Spain signed an agreement to present Spanish aid to Palestinian security services, as well to support the PNA budget.
Earlier, Zapatero laid a wreath of flowers at the tomb of the late President Yasser Arafat. Then he was officially received by Abbas at the Presidential HQ in Ramallah.
