Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has made peace talks with Israel's new government conditional on it committing to previous agreements and freezing Jewish settlement expansions, aides said on Friday.

Senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Abbas conveyed that message directly to the so-called Quartet of Middle East mediators -- the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.

"It was conveyed to the Quartet that Israel must accept the two-state solution and agreements signed, including Annapolis, and freeze settlement activities, in order to have political negotiations. You cannot have political negotiations without that," Erekat said.

If Israel made such a commitment, Erekat added, Abbas would agree to resume the negotiations immediately.

Western diplomats said that seemed unlikely, at least for the time being.

Israel's new foreign minister has dismissed an agreement reached at the Annapolis conference which provides for a Palestinian state.

That could put Benjamin Netanyahu on a collision course with the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama, who called this week for a Palestinian state alongside Israel as outlined in Annapolis.


Reuters

Güncelleme Tarihi: 10 Nisan 2009, 17:08