Palestinian President Furious with Clinton Statement
By Ali El-Saleh 23/08/2010
www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=22066

London, Asharq Al-Awsat- Asharq Al-Awsat has learned details relating to
the reaction of the Palestinian leadership in the moments following US
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton statement, in which she invited
Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu to direct negotiations in Washington on 2 September 2010. In her
declaration, which does not refer to the subsequent International Quartet
statement, Clinton clarified that the negotiations will take place without
preconditions.

Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal that President Abbas was furious upon hearing the
statement. Informed sources say that President Abbas was enraged to the
extent that he asked Presidency Media Spokesman Nabil Abu-Rudaynah to
contact US Peace Envoy George Mitchell directly, to express his anger.

According to the same sources, the US officials were both confused [at this
reaction], and afraid that "the situation would get out of hand". Therefore
they contacted President Abbas three times, in less than one hour, in an
attempt to alleviate his anger and explain the situation, so that he would
not be opposed to participating in the September negotiations. As a result
of this, a meeting of the PLO Executive Committee was delayed, which was
dedicated to discussing a response to the invitation, and the issue of
participation in the upcoming negotiations. The negotiations will be
conducted under the auspices of U.S. President Barack Obama, Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian Monarch King Abdullah II, both of whom
accepted the invitation, in addition to International Quartet Envoy Tony
Blair.

Furthermore, Asharq Al-Awsat learned that President Abbas asked Saeb Erekat,
in his capacity as Chief Palestinian Negotiator, to send written letters to
the United States requesting that other parties are invited to attend [the
upcoming negotiations]. These parties included, amongst others, the members
of the International Quartet (the European Union, the United Nations, and
Russia), Turkey and Brazil, and others. In this regard, the Washington
meeting would resemble the Annapolis conference, which former US President
George Bush hosted in November 2007.