Palestinians have right to declare state: Erekat

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, January 12, 2004

Palestinians have right to declare state: Erekat

Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that Palestinians have the right to unilaterally announce an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

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Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Sunday that Palestinians have the right to unilaterally announce an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

Erekat told the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam daily that "Palestinians have the right to announce a state on the 1967 borders, however, this could not happen at the time being."

He said that Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat asserted the Palestinian National Authority's commitment to the two-state resolution at a meeting Friday night.

The leadership stressed the necessity of an Israeli Army pullback to the 1967 borders and halt of settlement activities, he said.

"The Palestinian leadership can not accept Sharon's plan about establishing a Palestinian state on only 42 percent of the West Bank and 70 percent of the Gaza Strip," Erekat said.

Asked about Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei's proposal to set up a binational state for Palestinians and Israelis, Erekat said "we are committed to the two states solution, but the Israeli settlements and separation wall foil this solution."

The Palestinian leadership said in a statement issued Saturday that it was mulling the possibility of unilaterally proclaiming an independent state on land occupied by Israel since 1967.

The statement came after Qurei revived the idea of a bi-national state, which would abandon the prospect of two states living side by side, and place Jews and Palestinians under common authority on land covering historic Palestine, from the Jordan river to the Mediterranean.

Source: Xinhua

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