CAIRO, Dec 7: The four-day-long Egyptian-sponsored Palestinian truce talks collpased after 13 factions failed to agree on a comprehensive ceasefire offer to Israel seen as being crucial to reviving the US-backed Middle East ‘roadmap’ for peace.
“The talks have reached a dead-end. There was no agreement on the Egyptian proposal for a total ceasefire or to authorise the Palestinian authority to pursue peace moves,” said Husam Arafat, an official from the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
“The meeting ended without an agreement on the major issues and there will be no joint statement. The factions will issue a press statement in which they will say they will pursue the dialogue in the future. It is a cover for failure,” he said.
The factions earlier said they agreed on halting attacks in Israel. But Israel rejected the agreement, which did not include ending attacks on Israeli soldiers and settlers in occupied land, saying it would not be enough to renew peace talks.
Omar Suleiman, Egypt’s intelligence chief and key mediator in the talks, had told the 13 Palestinian factions that simply halting attacks inside Israel was not sufficient and called for a full ceasefire offer.
Other Palestinian delegates confirmed the talks had ended without a full ceasefire deal. They said the groups would issue a statement stating their readiness to continue dialogue in the future.
“The meetings have ended without agreement. There will be no final joint communique,” said a senior Hamas official, one of two groups spearheading suicide attacks inside Israel.
It was not clear how the collapse of the talks would affect a planned meeting between Suleiman and US officials in Washington on Tuesday or a meeting between the Palestinian and Israeli prime ministers.
Mr Suleiman had been expected to ask Washington for commitments to send monitors for any truce agreement reached.—Reuters
