U.S.: PLO claim of threat to cut PA ties borders on 'absurdity'
Senior PLO official Hanan Ashwari says Obama administration threatened to cut PA ties if direct negotiations with Netanayhu don't resume, Arab media reports.
Latest update 14:57 31.07.10
The U.S. States Department said Saturday that reports that the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama threatened to cut off ties with the Palestinians unless they entered direct talks with Israel bordered on "absurdity."
The United States encourages the talks, it does not threaten, an official said. The White House source told Haaretz that the claim made by Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, was "not true."
According Ashrawi, the United States threatened to break off ties with the Palestinian Authority unless its leader, Mahmoud Abbas agreed to return to face-to-face peace negotiations with Israel.
He said the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama had ramped up pressure on Abbas' Palestinian Authority to move from American-mediated talks to direct negotiations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomac...rdity-1.305123
U.S.: PLO claim of threat to cut PA ties borders on 'absurdity'
Linear Mode
