Without guarantees, it is difficult for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to commence direct negotiations with Israel, reports Doaa El-Bey Despite diplomatic efforts aiming to push concerned parties into direct talks, Nemr Hammad, an aide to Mahmoud Abbas, told reporters early this week that Abbas is waiting for a statement of the International Quartet on the Middle East -- consisting of the US, the EU, Russia and the UN -- before deciding on resuming peace talks with Israel. The Quartet statement is likely to define the reference points of direct talks, on hold since December 2008, based on halting settlement construction and realising the vision of a two-state solution within two years. The Quartet statement is further expected to reaffirm what was already included in a statement issued in March from Moscow, that the future Palestinian state would be established according to the borders of 1967. EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton earlier announced that the Quartet is working on a statement that calls for launching direct talks. It was supposed to be issued by Monday this week, but was not issued by time of Al-Ahram Weekly going to print. A breakthrough of sorts in the direction of direct talks happened following a meeting between Abbas and US Middle East Envoy George Mitchell in Ramallah last week, when the US expressed readiness to support a Quartet statement calling on the parties to enter direct negotiations. The details of the US stance were further discussed during a meeting between Abbas and Mitchell's aide, David Hale, this week. President Hosni Mubarak also met with Abbas in Cairo last week to discuss efforts to achieve comprehensive peace and establish a Palestinian state. The two leaders discussed the required guarantees to move from indirect to direct talks. Abbas informed Mubarak about the outcome of his earlier meeting with Mitchell. Mubarak also met with Jordanian King Abdullah in Cairo on the same day and discussed issues related to peace in the region. The two leaders tackled efforts exerted to boost the peace process and resume direct negotiations. Mubarak's meeting with Abbas and Abdullah came amid renewed Egyptian efforts to boost the Middle East peace process. To that end, Mubarak met with a number of leaders during the last few weeks, including Saudi King Abdullah, Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli President Shimon Peres, along with Mitchell. All these efforts could fail to reap any fruits, however, if Israel insists on its stand, according to one diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity. Netanyahu insists on rejecting any conditions before entering direct talks and Abbas insists on waiting for a statement from the Quartet that is likely to set out the basis of peace talks. "I fail to see how this major difference can be bridged so that direct talks can start," the source said. Netanyahu reaffirmed the Israeli stand Monday at a joint press conference with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou during a rare visit to Athens, saying he hoped for direct negotiations -- without preconditions -- with the Palestinians to start in the very near future. The Palestinians and Israelis have been holding proximity talks under US sponsorship since May. Abbas insisted that he would upgrade the talks only if Israel put a freeze on settlement building and if a timeframe for the peace process is outlined.
