Palestinian minister blames Israel for peace talks delay (Roundup)

May 12, 2007, 18:47 GMT

Amman - Palestinian Foreign Minister Ziad Abu Amr on Saturday blamed the Israeli government for the delay in relaunching peace talks with the Palestinians, saying the 'ball is in Israel's court.'

'It is quite clear that Israel bears the responsibility and the ball is in its court,' Abu Amr told reporters after discussions with Jordanian Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit.

'We, as Palestinians and Arabs, are doing our utmost to ready ourselves for the resumption of talks and nobody can hold us responsible for the failure to push forward the peace process,' he added.

Abu Amr referred to the refusal of the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to include final solution issues like Jerusalem, the settlements and the Palestinian refugees problem, in his recent talks with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinian foreign minister said that 'Israel is suffering from problems and cannot conduct serious negotiations'.

He alluded to the turmoil Olmert and other Israeli ministers were exposed to as a result of the publication of the Venograd report that held them responsible for the military pitfalls during the Lebanon war last summer.

Earlier in the day, Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib briefed his Palestinian counterpart on the outcome of the meeting in Cairo on Thursday that grouped him with Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

Khatib and Aboul Gheit were asked by the Arab League to relay to Livni the text of the Arab peace plan that offers to extend recognition to Israel by all Arab states after it pulls out from all Arab areas it occupied in the 1967 war, including East Jerusalem.

Latest efforts to promote the Arab blueprint were expected to be high on the agenda of King Abdullah II when he meets with Abbas in Ramallah on Sunday, officials said.