Palestinian concern over of negotiations with Israel

The Palestinian government on Wednesday expressed its fears that Israel may freeze negotiations on the Palestinian track after its talks are launched with Syria.

The secretary general of the Palestinian presidency, al-Tayeb Abdul Rahim, said that Israel may resort to freezing the Palestinian track, saying, "I am moving for peace on the Syrian track."

Abdul Rahim was delivering a speech on behalf Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in a celebration held at the inauguration of officers for the Palestinian presidency's security, just hours from resuming the Syrian-Israeli negotiations in Washington.

He added that it is ripe time for the Arab sides to stand before any Israeli attempt to play one side of the peace negotiation against the other.

It is worth noting that Israel's Prime Minister Ehud Barak affirmed again this week that he will not be attemting any such measures and proclaimed his intention to move forward with the Palestinian negotiations, without interruption, as a separate item from that of the Israeli-Syrian negotiations.