Erekat calls on France to work seriously for international peace conference

 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Executive Committee Secretary General Saeb Erekat Saturday called on France to "seriously work" for the international peace conference to end the Palestine-Israel conflict.

Erekat met with French special peace envoy Pierre Vimont in Ramallah where they discussed the French initiative.

He said in an email press statement that the success of the conference requires legal and political criteria based upon the internationally recognized laws, including UN security council and UN General Assembly resolutions, the Madrid Principles and the Arab Peace Initiative.

He added that the conference requires implementing the signed and overdue obligations, the ending of all forms of settlement activity, releasing the fourth batch of veteran prisoners in Israeli jails in order to end the Israeli military occupation and establishing the sovereign Palestinian state on borders of 1967 with east Jerusalem as its capital, within a predetermined time frame.

The secretary general said that in light of the recent Quartet report, which tried to disrupt the French initiative and multilateral efforts, it was decided that the Palestinians will work bilaterally with states rather than through working groups.

The statement said Erekat handed Vimont an official letter to French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, requesting him to set the peace process references in accordance with international law and to recognize the Palestinian state within the borders of 1967.

Paris hosted an international ministerial meeting on June 3, attended by the foreign ministers of 25 countries, including four Arab countries, which debated the revival of the stalled peace process between Israel and Palestine.

A final joint statement of the summit said that participants agreed on providing meaningful incentives to the parties to make peace, and direct negotiations between the two sides should be based on existing UN Security Council resolutions.

The Palestinians criticized the final statement of the conference for excluding working mechanisms or time frames for negotiations.

Israel publicly rejected the French initiative and said the best way to achieve peace is direct talks with Palestinians.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.
Source:XINHUA