Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) said he would not tolerate attacks such as Friday's suicide bombing in Tel Aviv and said the Palestinians are ready to "reach a true and lasting peace" with Israel.
In an interview with Britain's Independent published on Monday, Abbas blamed an unnamed party for sabotaging peace efforts.
"We believe peace is possible now and we are ready to negotiate with Israel to reach a true and lasting peace based on justice and international legitimacy," Abbas said ahead of a meeting in London on Tuesday to discuss Palestinian reforms.
"As for the suicide bombing last Friday, such actions will not be tolerated by us as they are against the Palestinian interests."
He confirmed Israel had shared information with the Palestinian Authority in the hunt for the organizers of the Tel Aviv club attack that killed five Israelis and injured dozens more.
Abbas said he hoped the London meeting would lead to an international conference to discuss a final accord envisaged in the U.S.-led "road map" for peace after decades of conflict.
"The London meeting must lead to the holding of the international conference called for in the road map to relaunch final status negotiations and a credible peace process," Abbas said. He also praised U.S. President George W. Bush's "indispensable" role in the Middle East peace process.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair will host the London meeting of high-ranking politicians, including U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana.
"We have an opportunity and it would be irresponsible if we, the Israelis, or the world allow it to slip away," Abbas told the newspaper.
Meanwhile, Jibril Al Rejoub, the Palestinian national security advisor, on Sunday night affirmed that the inter-Palestinian national dialogue in Cairo scheduled for this week was postponed.
Rejoub, who is currently visiting Egypt, said that the dialogue would instead take place in mid-March, and indicated Israel had decided to ban the travel of representatives of Palestinian factions to Cairo. He said that more time was needed to adopt new arrangements.
© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
