Yasser Abbas, son of outgoing Palestinian PM Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen), has denied news reports about his participation in secret negotiations with Israel that allegedly began Sunday between Israelis and Palestinians at the Rockefeller resort in New York State.
Earlier on Monday, the London based Arabic daily Al Sharq Al Awsat published the report, while describing the negotiations as aimed at reaching a common formula between the two sides on the "principles of peace." These principles, according to the report, would ultimately be presented to the Israeli people and Palestinians for approval in the form of national referendums.
The daily also added that the significance of these negotiations is not only due to their nature, but also their participants. According to the daily, Fathi Arafat – the Palestinian president’s brother and honorary head of the Palestinian Red Crescent – as well as Yasser Abbas are expected to be part of the negotiations.
However, Yasser Abbas - also known as Abu Ammar - expressed his surprise at the information and confirmed to Al Bawaba via telephone Monday that these reports are baseless and untrue. Yasser Abbas spoke to Al Bawaba upon his return home from an unknown country abroad.
Attempts to communicate with Fathi Arafat, who according to a close source is currently visiting Egypt on his way to France, have failed. The source told Al Bawaba, “the information on Arafat’s participation in the alleged negotiations is baseless,” adding “the man [Fathi Arafat] has just wrapped up a visit to Egypt on his way to France for medical treatment.”
