The joint press conference that was to be held by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday has been cancelled for unspecified reasons, according to an initial report in Haaretz. The two will meet later today, however.
The American Secretary of State arrived Saturday night in Israel after making an unannounced stop in Baghdad earlier in the day. She plans to meet separately on Sunday in Ramallah with PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
Rice issued a warning at a joint news conference held with Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni that the PA government must still comply with demands by the Quartet (U.S., Russia, United Nations and European Union) that it recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and honor existing agreements or relinquish hopes of future American assistance.
Rice took a tough stance at the news conference, held after her meeting with Livni.. “It is reasonable to obligate them [the PA] to renounce violence, to recognize the right [of Israel] to exist and honor international agreements,” she told reporters.
Abbas warned American Middle East envoy David Welch in preparatory talks earlier in the day that there would be no major policy changes in the new PA unity government, also to be led by the Hamas terrorist faction.
A PA official said Abbas flatly told Welch, “This (unity) agreement was the best we could get. We cannot change it. You either take it or leave it.”
According to a political source in Jerusalem, U.S. President George W. Bush reassured Olmert in a phone conversation Friday that America will continue to insist the PA government meet the Quartet demands before talks can continue.
PA negotiator Saeb Erekat confirmed the American position, quoting Welch as saying the U.S. is “going to judge this government according to its commitment to the Quartet conditions.”
Other PA officials said earlier in the week that the U.S. had threatened to boycott all PA government officials, including both Hamas and non-Hamas ministers, until the Quartet conditions are met. The State Department later said it was waiting for the PA to clarify its policies before making a decision on its next move.
Abbas is expected to demand on Monday that the U.S. and Israel accept the new PA government, said Nabil Abu Rudeineh after the meeting. “In the three-way meeting with Olmert and Rice… Abbas is going to say that this government should be given a chance,” said the Abbas aide.
The unity deal signed in Mecca more than a week ago was aimed at ending the internecine violence between the two factions but left the Hamas terrorist organization in control of the PA.
The agreement did not require either faction to fulfill the international community’s demands for the PA government to recognize Israel, renounce terrorism and uphold agreements signed with Israel by prior PA governments.
Until the Mecca summit, Abbas had been adamant that Fatah would not join with Hamas until the group met the Quartet conditions. His commitment to the international community dissolved, however, once he signed on to the pact with Hamas under the watchful eye of Saudi Arabian King Abdullah.