Palestinian National Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas said he hopes an independent Palestinian state will be proclaimed and recognized in September.
“We hope to proclaim the Palestinian state in September,” Abbas told Moskovskiye Novosti, a Russian perestroika-era political and business daily to re-launch on Monday.
“For this, we have at least three reasons. First, U.S. President [Barack] Obama said he would like to see the creation of a Palestinian state in September. Second, the Mideast Quartet [Russia, the United States, the European Union and the United Nations] also said the talks are to be completed in September,” he said.
“Third, we, Palestinians, committed ourselves to establishing all the necessary state institutions so that everything is ready for the state’s recognition in September,” Abbas, who visited Moscow last week, said.
The agenda of Abbas’ Moscow talks focused on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, as well as on inter-Palestinian dialogue. The Palestinian leader’s visit took place ahead of a meeting of the Middle East Quartet of international mediators, due in mid-April.
Russia has warned that the Israeli-Palestinian issue should not be shelved amid unrest in the Middle East and called on its partners in the Quartet to step up efforts on the Israeli-Palestinian track.
Direct talks between the Israelis and Palestinians, which resumed last September after a 20-month standoff, collapsed three weeks after when Israel refused to stop construction in the occupied West Bank.
MOSCOW, March 28 (RIA Novosti)