Abbas and the Roadmap

The Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas announced his readiness to start implementation of requirements stated in the Roadmap, expressing his hope to resume the peace talks with Israel shortly.

Abbas who was elected last Sunday as head of the Palestinian authority said he is ready to implement the security aspects stated on the Roadmap which also obliges Israel to withdraw its forces from certain occupied Palestinian territories and halting the construction of settlements in it.

Abbas added upon his meeting with certain men of the Christian church on Thursday in Ramullah that the Roadmap includes obligations on the Palestinian and Israeli sides, stressing that the Palestinian side is to start a project shortly to implement its obligations.

In this respect, Abbas called on certain Palestinian groups to cease fire. A matter which was rejected by these groups.

On the other hand, it was announced in Moscow on Thursday that Abbas will visit Russia by the end of the current month. The Russian parliamentarian Michael Margilov who presides over the foreign relations committee at the Russian parliament ( Senate ) said the visit and schedule of the paper are not set yet.