Hawatmeh ready to participate in negotiations of Palestinian final status, with conditions
Palestine, Politics, 8/20/1999

Nayef Hawatmeh, the secretary general of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said yesterday that he is ready to participate, conditionally, in final status negotiations with Israel.

He said he would meet with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in Cairo on Sunday.

In a press conference held yesterday in Damascus, he said, "When we agree on the political framework for the final negotiations and mechanism of the negotiable joint work, we will be overcoming Oslo's injustice, and we will move to comprehensive negotiations; therefore, the front will be a partner in this negotiation."

Hawatmeh said the final status negotiations must be based on United Nations resolutions and the land-for-peace principle.

Regarding his anticipated meeting with the Palestinian president, he said he will discuss with Arafat the practical steps for declaring the Palestinian state in the occupied lands in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as a Palestinian right, not subjected to negotiation, in addition to discussing reaching a Palestinian national agreement on the lower limits, regarding which retreat will be impossible in any negotiation, especially on stopping settlements, stopping the Israeli joining to Western Jerusalem and the refugees' rights to return.

He added, "After the bilateral discussions we will move to the comprehensive national discussion that will comprise the other Palestinian factions."

Previous Stories:
  Palestinian opposition front ready to negotiate with Israel on permanent settlement   (8/17/1999)
  Arafat, Hawatmeh to confer in Cairo next week   (8/16/1999)
  Date for meeting between Arafat and Hawatmeh is not final   (8/14/1999)

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