RAMALLAH, August 2 (JMCC) - According to a report in the
Washington Post, US president Barack Obama warned Palestinians that if they do not engage in direct negotiations with Israel, their relations with the United States could suffer.
Last week, senior PLO members were briefed on the latest attempts to restart talks. During the meeting, an Abbas aide summarized the main points of Obama's letter, said the PLO official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the letter has not been made public.
In this letter, Obama asked Abu Mazen [Abbas] to go to direct negotiations and [wrote] that he can't help the Palestinians unless they go to direct negotiations, the official said. Obama said he expects Abu Mazen to agree to this demand, and that not accepting it would affect the relations between the Palestinians and the Americans.
Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat insisted the letter did not refer to Palestinian-U.S. ties. Erekat said Obama wrote that he remains committed to establishing a Palestinian state but that his ability to help will be limited if Abbas does not resume talks.
Read the story at the
Washington Post...