http://www.arabnews.com/?page=4§ion=0&article=103707&d=18&m=11&y=2007&pix=world.jpg&category=World
The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
Sunday 18 November 2007 (08 Dhul Qa`dah 1428)
'Israel Agrees to Return of 20,000 Palestinians'
Mohammed Mar'i, Arab News -
RAMALLAH, West Bank, 18 November 2007 - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud
Olmert agreed in a closed meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to
allow 20,000 Palestinian refugees to return back into Israel in exchange for
ending Palestinian intifada, a report said yesterday.
The Palestinian independent news agency Ma'an cited Israeli sources
as saying that the implementation of this offer will be part of a two-state
solution and will remain at abeyance until the Palestinian Authority becomes
more powerful. The report did not say what was the criterion used to arrive at
the 20,000 figure or whether the remainder of the Palestinians and their
descendants displaced by the creation of the state of Israel would be
monetarily compensated.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will not return
to the Palestinian territories and Israel before the US-sponsored Mideast peace
conference at the end of the month in Annapolis, Maryland, Voice of Israel
Radio reported yesterday. Rice visited Israel and the West Bank three times in
the past two months to help two sides bridge differences over a joint
declaration ahead of the conference.
Israel Radio quoted White House spokesman Sean McCormack as saying
that Rice will continue consulting with Olmert and Abbas over telephone.
McCormack also confirmed US President George W. Bush's attendance at the
conference. Its exact date has not been officially announced.
An Israeli government source told the radio that Rice's decision
was a good sign as it showed that talks were making good progress and the sides
did not need prodding. A Palestinian source, however, told the radio that
Rice's visit would not make a difference as she cannot solve problems in
negotiations.
Separately, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said in a statement:
"The Palestinian and Israeli negotiation teams will conduct intensive rounds of
negotiations this week in a bid to hammer out a joint declaration outlining a
solution to core issues: borders, status of Jerusalem, refugees, and water
before Annapolis conference."
He said meetings with Israelis would resume despite all obstacles
and complications faced by the Palestinian side.
During a meeting with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Abdullah on Friday, Abbas expressed his pessimism over the chances for success
of the Annapolis conference and his dissatisfaction with Israel over its
unwillingness to achieve the minimum level of what is acceptable by
Palestinians, Jamal Al-Shobaki, Palestinian ambassador to Saudi Arabia, said
yesterday.
The Israeli official team that returned from the United States on
Friday said that both Washington and Riyadh were pressing Israel to free far
more than the 400 Palestinian prisoners that Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
has announced he plans to release as a goodwill gesture to Abbas ahead of
Annapolis. There are more than 11,000 Palestinian detainees in Israeli prisons.
According to Israeli security sources, the releases would be depend on a
cessation of attacks and a commitment by the freed prisoners not to return to
attacks against Israeli targets
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