A high-level Palestinian team is to hold talks with US officials Tuesday in Washington on the peace process for the first time since the new administration of George W. Bush took office a month ago, reported AFP.
The delegation, headed by international cooperation minister Nabil Shaath and West Bank preventative security chief Jibril Rjoub, left for Washington Sunday, the PLO representative in Washington, Hassan Abdel Rahman, was quoted by the agency as telling Voice of Palestine radio.
"It will meet on Tuesday in Washington with Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss the future of the peace process, the situation in the Palestinian territories and his future visit," Rahman added.
Rjoub will also meet Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) director, George Tenet, who has chaired Israeli-Palestinian talks in the past, to discuss US-Palestinian security coordination, he said.
Powell kicks off next week a tour of Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Syria and Kuwait.
Meanwhile, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Monday that he expected conditions for Palestinians to get worse after the victory of Likud leader Ariel Sharon in the February 6 election, Haaretz quoted him as telling Al-Ayyam newspaper.
Erekat said that the Palestinian leadership was pushing for immediate international protection for Palestinians.
"In my opinion, the worst is yet to come and the world must realize this," Erekat told the Arabic daily.
"We are adamantly demanding international protection for the Palestinian people, today not tomorrow, and we demand UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan resubmit a proposal to provide comprehensive international protection for the Palestinians," he added – Albawaba.com
