Palestinian official asks US to press Israel

Palestinian presidency's spokesman,Nabil Abu Rudeineh, said Monday that the Palestinians want to ask the United States to press Israel to implement Sharm el-Sheikh understandings.

Abu Rudeineh told reporters that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas' visit to Washington later this month is important as during the trip, the US role in helping implement the roadmap peace plan will be discussed.

Abu Rudeineh said that the vision of US President George W. Bush on establishing a Palestinian state living side by side with Israel must be carried out.

During a summit at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in February, Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon declared a mutual ceasefire and Sharon agreed to hand over five West Bank cities to Palestinian security control.

Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat accused Israel of intending to replace the roadmap peace plan with the disengagement plan.

He told the Voice of Palestine that the Israeli government rejects the resumption of peace talks over final status issues.

"Israel wants to turn the Gaza Strip to a huge prison and surround West Bank cities, towns and refugee camps with walls, then it would say here is a state with borders," he said.

Source: Xinhua