Ramallah (dpa) – The third round of Palestinian-Israeli talks was due to get underway in Jordan Saturday, with neither side holding out much sign of optimism. President Mahmoud Abbas told senior members of his Fatah party prior to the talks that “if we agree on a common ground, then we go to negotiations; but if the ground is not there, then what are we supposed to negotiate about. So far, there is no agreement on the ground.” The Palestinian side has set a deadline of January 26 for the talks about starting formal negotiations. Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, was quoted in the semi-official daily al-Ayyam that “January 26 remains a crossroad; we either make progress in these exploratory meetings or we will be forced to take (other) decisions.” However, Israel disputes that deadline. The Jewish state says the timeline for the two parties to submit proposals on borders and security set in September by the quartet of Middle East peace mediators – the United States, European Union, Russia and United Nations – actually began with the start of the Amman talks launched on January 3. Meanwhile, the US State Department urged both parties not to get fixated on dates. “We don't want them, or anybody else, to get so fixated on the date that it chills the mood,” said spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. “We want them to keep going on the hard work that they're doing together.” BM
