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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Olmert to Abbas: Don't talk to Hamas |
| 2007-07-17 |
| Israel's gestures to the Palestinian Authority, as well as increasing cooperation with the new government, will end if PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas again agrees to a government condominium with Hamas, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Abbas on Monday. According to Israeli officials, Olmert told Abbas - who pressed for the beginning of diplomatic negotiations - that Fatah-Hamas talks would be a cause for ending the emerging political process between Israel and the newly reconstructed PA. Shortly after the meeting, Hamas seemed to be sending a message of its own to Abbas and Olmert, as three Kassam rockets fell on Sderot. One rocket scored a direct hit on a home in Sderot while the other two landed in other parts of the city. No casualties were reported, although several people were treated for shock. Government sources said that Olmert, who told Abbas that 250 mostly Fatah prisoners would likely be released by Friday, called on the Palestinians to actively work against terrorism emanating from the West Bank. Olmert stressed the importance to Abbas from Israel's perspective of seeing law and order in the West Bank. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat, who took part in the meeting, welcomed the prisoner release at a press conference he held in Ramallah, but called on Israel to free more prisoners. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Before I talk to them myself. |
| Posted by: Ehud Olmert 2007-07-17 09:58 |