BRUSSELS, May 12, 2010 (WAFA)- Today, PES President Poul Nyrup Rasmussen and Fatah International Commissioner Nabil Shaath met to discuss the current state of affairs in Palestine and ongoing proximity )alks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority and to decide on further cooperation between the PES and Fatah.
Dr. Nabil Shaath is visiting Brussels to meet the PES, the European Commission and members of the European Parliament. In this context, PES President said that, “we firmly believe in the need to accelerate negotiations to reach a two-state solution as set out in the conclusions of the EU summit in December 2009. The current proximity talks are to be welcomed. We urge the Israeli government to freeze settlements as we consider this a condition for the talks to be successful. I can assure to Mr. Abbas and Mr. Fayyad that they will have our support in pushing for more initiatives, like the White Intifada, that build on this direction”.
Dr. Shaath said that: “Meeting Mr. Rasmussen was a great opportunity to build on the existing common ground rooted in solidarity with the PES in order to cooperate closely in giving a peaceful solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on international law, the agreements of the Madrid Conference and the Arab Peace Initiative. The tools to achieve this aim have been defined by the Four Points Strategy elaborated by Fatah in its political programme adopted at its 6th Congress last summer: peaceful popular resistance against occupation, active international diplomacy, similar to the anti-apartheid campaign, national reconciliation and institutional building.”
These talks will translate into closer party cooperation, including a joint PES-Fatah Seminar in the second half of 2010, the establishment of a policy experts’ twinning program and the sending of a high-level delegation to Palestine and Israel. These initiatives are part of the PES Action Plan for the Middle East.“This cooperation between the PES and Fatah is our contribution to the peace process”, said Mr. Rasmussen.
