Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nabil Shaath said Tuesday the Palestinians expect the Bush administration to pressure Israel to make more concessions. Quoted by the Ramallah-based Al-Ayyam newspaper, Shaath said that he expects the US administration to press Israel to pull out its army from more Palestinian towns, remove military roadblocks and halt the construction of the seperation wall.
US President George W. Bush was to meet with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Tuesday and discuss the Middle East peace process following Friday's meeting with Palestinian premier Mahmoud Abbas.
Ahead of Sharon's departure to Washington, Israeli troops removed checkpoints near the West Bank cities of Ramallah and Hebron. Shaath described the recent Israeli measures as "a step in the right direction, but insufficient for Palestinians."
He praised the meeting between Bush and Abbas, saying "Palestinians and Americans have not held talks in such openness in three years."
Meanwhile, U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Sharon agreed Monday that Israel and the U.S. will continue contacts on the West Bank fence, media reports said.
During their meeting at Sharon's Washington hotel, Rice expressed American concerns that the fence would have an adverse effect on the Palestinian population. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
