Damascus Palestinian factions alarmed by Abbas' Washington visit

May 30, 2009, 15:20 GMT

Damascus - Palestinian factions in exile in Damascus on Saturday warned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas against giving up on the 'rights of the Palestinian people' in exchange for a 'US illusion.'

In a joint statement sent to reporters after a Saturday meeting of political leaders from Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Damascus-based factions, the groups said they would reject any international agreement Abbas might strike 'on behalf of our people that would target our people's rights under the guise of peace.'

Abbas, speaking to reporters on Saturday after briefing Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak on his recent meeting with US President Barack Obama, said he approved of the US administration's emphasis on the importance of establishing an independent Palestinian state and a halt to the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

'The (US administration's) stance is satisfactory to us,' Abbas said.

Responding to Abbas' trip to Washington, the groups warned against the 'US illusion of a new settlement under the slogan of a 'two-state solution',' given what they called 'the extreme racism' of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government and 'the escalation of the Israeli position.'

The groups called for an end to the two-year-old blockade of the Gaza Strip and to what they called the 'Judaization' of the West Bank and East Jerusalem.