Free Republic

Ynet interview: Outgoing Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia optimistic about peace prospects despite Hamas election victory, says Islamic group will back peace process if it sees genuine Israeli intentions Despite Hamas' elections victory and rise to power, Israel has a partner for negotiations if it wishes to advance a genuine peace process, outgoing Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia told Ynet in an interview Saturday. "Unilateral moves would only increase the hostility between the two peoples," Qureia said. "On the Palestinian side there's a leadership headed by Abu-Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas) that is willing to enter diplomatic negotiations immediately and reach a...

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian prime minister Ahmed Qorei warned Israel that its new restrictions on West Bank roads were undermining the peace process after he himself was stuck at a checkpoint. An angry Qorei told reporters that he had been stoppped for 45 minutes at a mobile checkpoint to the east of the Palestinian Authority's capital in Ramallah as he was driving from his offices in Abu Dis on the outskirts of east Jerusalem. "The Israelis say the road closures are to defend themselves but it is really just a procedure to make our lives difficult, especially during...

A Palestinian Legislative Council investigation into the reasons for the chaos in the Palestinian Authority found that the main reason for the anarchy is that the PA and its leader, Yasser Arafat, have failed to make a clear political decision to end it. The report also calls for an end to Qassam rocket fire into Israel and attacks inside Israel, the resignation of the members of the Qureia government and general elections. "The main reason for the failure of the Palestinian security forces and their lack of action in restoring law and order," says the report prepared by the...

King Abdullah slams PA Accuses its leadership of not carrying out real reform. Says it is responsible for situation in which 50% of territory offered today while 2 years ago 98% discussed.Marwan Athamna King Abdullah “The Palestinian Authority must carry out a real reform and tell the Arab world what it wants of it”, Abdullah King of Jordan told the Arab satellite network al-Arabiya on Tuesday. Abudllah harshly criticized the PA and said that because of the way it handled the situation, Israel today is offering it only 50% of territory that was conquered during the Six Day war, while...

EU says it would reconsider position on PA if Abu Ala resigns After meeting FM Shalom in Jerusalem, EU foreign affairs chief Solana says if Abu Ala ends up just as Abu Mazen, conclusions could be drawn. Gil Horev Solana (right) and Shalom today in Jerusalem (Foreign Ministry photo). If Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei (Abu Ala) resigns we would have to reconsider our position regarding the Palestinian Authority, European Union foreign affairs chief Javier Solana has stated. During a press conference he held with Foreign Minister Sylvan Shalom after a joint meeting this (Thursday) afternoon in Jerusalem, Solana said,...

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Gunmen angry over Yasser Arafat's overhaul of his security forces burned down Palestinian Authority offices in Gaza on Sunday. In the West Bank city of Ramallah, Arafat met with his prime minister, Ahmed Qureia, to discuss the political crisis that erupted over continuing violence in Gaza and Qureia's attempt to resign as head of the Palestinian government. "I totally reject your resignation and consider it nonexistent," Arafat told Qureia at a meeting Sunday, according to Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat. Qureia told his Cabinet on Saturday he was firm in his decision to quit. Dozens of...

United States President George W. Bush told Jordan's King Abdullah on Thursday that he would send a letter to Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia in the near future to balance the letter of understanding he had transferred to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Bush said he would shortly send a personal letter to Qureia "that will explain my views, and we will expand dialogue between the United States and Palestinians." In the letter, Bush will clarify that the U.S. believes that the problems concerning a final status agreement between Israel and the Palestinians should be resolved in negotiations between the two...

JERUSALEM (AP) - Palestinians will give up their goal of independence and push instead for a single Arab-Jewish state if Israel carries out its threat to unilaterally impose a new boundary with Palestinian areas, the Palestinian premier said Thursday. A single country including Gaza, the West Bank and Israel would spell disaster for the Jewish state because the country would soon have an Arab majority. That would force Israel to choose between giving Palestinians the right to vote and risk losing the country's Jewish character, or becoming a minority-ruled country like apartheid South Africa. U.S. Secretary of State Colin...

<p>JERUSALEM (AP) - Israel may soon be compelled to dismantle a "considerable" number of Jewish settlements and draw a border around the rest, Israel's vice premier told The Associated Press on Thursday - a go-it-alone approach he suggested has Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's tacit backing.</p>

JERUSALEM - Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia said Monday he was ready for a summit with Ariel Sharon (news - web sites), but only if the Israeli premier agreed to move on some tough Palestinian demands, including halting the construction of a West Bank security barrier. Sharon said he would not accept preconditions for a summit, and the dispute threatened hopes for a decisive effort to end three years of violence and jump-start the stalled "road map" peace plan. Momentum seemed to be building in recent days toward such a push after the main Palestinian militant groups agreed to a...

Nov. 19, 2003 PA setting up road blocks to find tunnel road shooter By LAMIA LAHOUD PA police set up check-points in Bethlehem on Wednesday to look for the Palestinian who carried out Tuesday's shooting attack in the city in which two soldiers were killed, a source close to PA Chairman Yasser Arafat said. He added that this was a result of the decision by the PA's security council to implement law and order. He did not know how and if the PA would punish the shooter if they apprehend him. The source close to Arafat said the Palestinian leader...

Well, here we go again Posted: November 17, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia are expected to meet to restart the so-called "peace process." Here we go again. I hear a lot about the cycle of violence in the Mideast. Call this the cycle of madness. Why madness? I've heard one definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. That's exactly what Israel and the United States are doing by endlessly pursuing peace with people who have no interest...

Nov. 16, 2003 Qurei: Time to end anarchy By JPOST.COM STAFF Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei announced his intention to make changes in the Palestinian security forces. In his upcoming meeting with Egyptian intelligence chief Gen. Omar Sulieman, the two are scheduled to discuss ways to "end the anarchy that reigns in the territories," he said Sunday at the end of a meeting of the Palestinian National Security Council in Ramallah. Qurei has proposed re-establishing and making personnel changes at the Palestinian security organization, and founding local and municipal councils, trade organizations, and civilian organizations. Following his meeting with Suleiman,...

Last Update: 03/11/2003 23:14 Sharon: PA leadership that objects to terror will soon arise By Aluf Benn, Haaretz Correspondent, and Haaretz Service Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ahead of their meeting at the Kremlin in Moscow on Monday. (AP) MOSCOW - Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who is on a visit to Russia, said Monday he believes that "very soon a Palestinian leadership that objects to the path of terror, violence and incitement of [PA Chairman] Yasser Arafat will arise, and will be prepared to act with us to honestly implement the road map. When that happens,...

Nov. 3, 2003 Arafat holding up Qurei govt. over interior minister By ASSOCIATED PRESS PA Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei Photo: AP Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurei and Yasser Arafat made no apparent progress Monday toward resolving their dispute over the choice of security chief, the main hurdle to forming a new government. Qureia said after a two-hour meeting with the veteran Palestinian leader that the issue is "still under study." Qurei's formal deadline for forming a Cabinet is midnight Tuesday, though an Arafat aide later said he could ask for more time. Renewed political wrangling over the composition of the...

Oct. 15, 2003 Israel angered by Swiss sponsorship of "Geneva Initiative" By ASSOCIATED PRESS Israel's government is angered by Swiss sponsorship of an unofficial peace plan worked out between former Israeli and Palestinian politicians and veteran peace negotiators, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official said Wednesday. The still-unreleased 50-page document, worked out primarily under the sponsorship of Switzerland, has no official standing, but outlines a solution to generations of conflict and includes a map of a future Palestinian state alongside Israel. On Wednesday, Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Jonathan Peled said the government was peeved at the Swiss, who helped fund the...

JERUSALEM - Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qureia told the ruling Fatah party Sunday he will not seek renomination when a new Cabinet is formed in three weeks, Fatah officials said. Speaking after a meeting of the Fatah central committee, Qureia would only say that a new government would be formed in three weeks "with a new prime minister too."

<p>RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) -- Yasser Arafat installed an eight-member emergency Cabinet on Sunday with Ahmed Qureia as prime minister, an apparent attempt to deflect possible Israeli action against him following a suicide bombing a day earlier.</p> <p>Israel threatened last month to "remove" Arafat, without setting a time, and there were new demands for his expulsion after Saturday's attack by Islamic Jihad. Nineteen Israelis were killed in a crowded beachfront restaurant in the northern port city of Haifa.</p>

<p>JERUSALEM (AP) - Yasser Arafat, meeting in the West Bank with the leadership of his Fatah party, made clear Sunday he intends to ask parliament speaker Ahmed Qureia to become the new Palestinian prime minister, a Palestinian political source said.</p>

GOTTA SEE THIS - War for Enduring Freedom 9/10/02 BREAKING: Iraq al-Twaitha, Tamoz, Tuweithe nuclear facilities BREAKING: Al-Muhajiroun terror meeting planned Iraq, Baghdad, Al-Hariri school, Ritter, Ramadan, Ramallah, Qureia, Kit Kat, Egypt ===================== Iraqi al-Twaitha nuclear facility =================== The Iraqis have so many nuclear facilities that they are showing off some of the least important. TODAY, at the Iraqi al-Twaitha and Tamoz nuclear facilities, 25 miles south of Baghdad tours were given. The site was destroyed twice, first by the Israelis in 1981 and then by allied troops during the 1991 Gulf War. ===================== Tuweithe nuclear facility =================== At the...