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Palestinian President's Office Denies Abbas Expressed Support for Olmert

Posted on: Thursday, 9 March 2006, 21:00 CST

Text of unsigned report headlined "Abbas denies supporting Kadima in Israeli elections", published by Palestinian newspaper Al-Ayyam on 9 March

The office of President Mahmud Abbas, Abu-Mazin, has denied statements attributed to the president by the Italian Corriere della Sera newspaper with regard to the Israeli elections.

In a statement sent to Al-Ayyam, the office stated: "The Israeli elections are the affair of the Israeli people, not the Palestinian president." It added: "The president has not delivered any statement in support of anyone, and will not support any political party in Israel."

The statement noted that the president's remarks could have been misunderstood. This is because when he was asked about Kadima's possible victory in the Israeli elections, [the president] said: "We respect the will of the Israeli people. If [Acting Prime Minister Ehud] Olmert wins, I know him well and I believe that it will be possible to deal with him. Shimon Peres, the second man in Kadima, is an old friend. We signed the Oslo agreements together. In short, we hope that those who truly want peace and intend to restart the negotiations win. We want good relations with everyone."

The statement quoted President Abbas as saying: "Israel's policy is of great concern to us. Security for both peoples, the Palestinians and the Israelis, can only be achieved through negotiated peace. Israeli unilateralism destroys the two-state solution and dashes the hopes of millions of Israelis and Palestinians who want a negotiated settlement."

The president's office noted the recent construction of Israel's wall inside the city of Ramallah, which will allow the expansion of nearby Israeli settlements. It stated: "While the Israelis discuss their nominees and election lists, Israel is turning one of our dearest cities into a cement graveyard."

In this regard, it has been mentioned that 80 per cent of the wall passes through occupied Palestinian territories, not on or close to Israel's borders with the West Bank.

Source: BBC Monitoring Middle East

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