Peace partners? Livni and Abbas
Photo: AP
Abbas: Livni to continue peace quest
Palestinian leader says Tzipi Livni will continue peace talks, adds that Palestinian state is in Israel's interest; French foreign minister: I'm worried that other developments would prompt world to forget about Mideast peace process
Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas said Saturday evening he was confident that Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who may soon assume the post of prime minister, would continue peace negotiations.
The Palestinian leader described Livni as a "peace partner" and said she was closely familiar with the details of ongoing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
In a news conference with visiting French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, Abbas turned his attention to Livni, saying: "We feel she may continue in the path towards peace so that the Palestinian state will be established and this will be in the interests of Israel as much as it is an aspiration for the Palestinians."
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Abbas added that Israel and the Palestinians are working towards realizing the two-state solution, saying it "enjoys international unanimity."
"We must work to achieve this objective and remove all voices that call for something that contradicts it," he said.
Meanwhile, Kouchner said he was "not worried that Livni would abandon her role in the peace negotiations. However, the French foreign minister said he feared the world may forget the Middle East peace process while distracted by the American election, a government change in Israel, and tension with Iran.
"My concern is, and what I do not want to see, is that the change in the US Administration, and the formation of a new government in Israel, as well as the preoccupation with Iran would push everybody to forget the peace process in the region," he said.
Palestinian officials believe peace negotiations will be suspended until after a new US president takes office in January and until a new Israeli government is formed. Olmert will stay on as caretaker premier until parliament approves a new government.
