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Palestinian leader Abbas to visit Turkey on Saturday

April 17, 2013 09:32
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas is to visit Turkey at the weekend for talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a Palestinian official said on Wednesday. Abbas will also meet Turkish President Abdullah Gul and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu during the Saturday-Sunday trip, the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Erdogan on Sunday announced his intention to visit the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip next month, after a trip to the United States.

Palestinian wounded by Israeli fire into Gaza

April 16, 2013 15:45
A Palestinian man was wounded by Israeli gunfire east of El- Bureij in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian medical sources said. They said the 32-year-old was in moderate condition after being shot in the chest. The Israeli army had no comment on the incident. Four Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire and more than 100 wounded since the November 21 ceasefire between the Jewish state and Gaza's Hamas rulers, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Palestinians open Israeli jail replica to honour prisoners

April 16, 2013 11:15
By Nidal al-Mughrabi GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinians opened a replica of a former Israeli prison in Gaza on Tuesday to help illuminate the plight of 4,800 kin jailed in Israel after weeks of protests that have triggered clashes in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Murals of famous leaders of Palestinian militant groups who were once held in the Saraya prison decorated walls at the site, along with a leather banner listing the names of 12 detainees who died in what locals dubbed "the slaughterhouse".

US minimizes impact of Fayyad resignation

April 15, 2013 17:46
The United States said Monday that the Palestinian Authority and statehood aspirations were about more than one man, following the resignation of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. Fayyad's decision to quit following tension with president Mahmud Abbas provided a new complication for US hopes of engineering a return to peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. White House spokesman Jay Carney described Fayyad, who met President Barack Obama late last month in Ramallah, as a leader in promoting "economic growth, state building and security for the Palestinian people."

Turkey should tread carefully on Palestine issue

April 15, 2013 17:16
As the US is mulling how to resuscitate peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians, there has been considerable exchange between Turkey and the US on the Middle East peace process before Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's meeting with US President Barack Obama scheduled for the middle of May. The issue has come up during two previous visits from US Secretary of State John Kerry, who met with Erdogan as well as his counterpart.

Fayyad calls it a day: Paper

April 15, 2013 16:31
Salem Fayyad had always been the unsung hero of the Palestinian struggle.

Palestinians hope Fayyad's resignation would lead to unity, end of division

April 15, 2013 15:47
When Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday, a political analyst from the West Bank raised three questions. "Would Fayyad's resignation improve economy? Would it help end Palestinian internal division and achieve long-awaited reconciliation? Would it prepare for presidential and legislative elections?" asked Samer Anabtawi. TOUGH DECISION Amin Maqbool, Speaker of Fatah Revolutionary Council, told Xinhua that there has been severe criticism of Fayyad's performance as prime minister.

Election commission chief informs Abbas ready for holding general elections

April 15, 2013 14:53
Chief of the Palestinian Central Elections Commission (CEC) on Friday said he informed President Mahmoud Abbas that his commission is ready for holding the Palestinian general elections. Hana Nasser, who met with Abbas earlier in the day, told Xinhua that he handed Abbas an updated electoral register in the Palestinian territories. "I informed President Abbas that the commission is ready for holding the Palestinian elections in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and in east Jerusalem, which may need certain arrangements," said Nasser. Israel claims Jerusalem is the eternal capital

Abbas must form national unity government: party official

April 15, 2013 12:16
President Mahmud Abbas must form a government aimed at Palestinian national reconciliation after the resignation of premier Salam Fayyad, a high-ranking member of his party said on Monday. "The president must hold consultations with Palestinian movements to form a national unity government and set a date for elections," Azzam al-Ahmed, a leader of Abbas's Fatah party, told the official Voice of Palestine radio.

Abbas likely to delay Fayyad exit, awaiting U.S. moves

April 15, 2013 12:16
By Ali Sawafta and Noah Browning RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is likely to keep Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in office for the next few weeks while the United States tries to revive Middle East peace talks, officials said on Monday. Abbas accepted the resignation of Fayyad on Saturday, adding a layer of uncertainty to local politics just when Washington had resumed efforts to end the generations-old conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.
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