Palestinian government discusses delay in announcing independent state

Palestinian Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nabil Shaath announced yesterday that the Palestinian government is examining suggestions that it delay the declaration of the Palestinian independent state by two or three weeks from the date of May 4th.

He confirmed that the reason for the requested delay relates to tactical considerations, adding that declaring a state at the decided time could affect elections in Israel.

Shaath's statements coincided with new pledges for Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to reach a peace agreement with Syria and Lebanese before the end of the current year.