Leader Says Now is Time to Restart Peace Talks

Jun 19, 07:48 AM

Current Headlines: The Associated Press

RAMALLAH, West Bank

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, emboldened by an outpouring of international support in his showdown with Hamas militants, on Monday told a receptive President Bush that, after a seven-year hiatus , it was time to restart Mideast peace talks.

Bush planned to relay their thoughts on how to proceed to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert at a meeting in Washington today, a White House spokesman said.

Abbas' Hamas rivals were headed in a vastly different direction, facing deepening isolation after their violent takeover of the Gaza Strip.

The Bush administration lifted its 15-month economic and diplomatic embargo on the Palestinian government on Monday, trying to help Abbas solidify his hold on power.

As a first step, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she will ask Congress to rework an existing $86 million aid request for the Abbas-led government. At the same time, she announced a $40 million contribution to United Nations relief for Palestinian refugees, a gesture to the 1.5 million Palestinians living in increasingly desperate conditions in Gaza.

"We are not going to countenance that somehow ... the Palestinians are divisible," Rice told reporters. "We're not going to abandon the Palestinians who are living in Gaza."

Abbas expelled Hamas from the Palestinian government last week after the Islamist group routed his forces in Gaza, leaving the president's more moderate Fatah movement in control only of the West Bank.

Olmert made no public statements Monday, but Israel has expressed its desire to negotiate with a Palestinian government without Hamas. It remained unclear, however, how much peace talks could accomplish.

The cash to Abbas' government will help him meet his payroll and could improve his standing with Palestinian voters, but he remains weak. Although the Bush administration has made a point of saying that Abbas remains the leader for all Palestinians, the near-total division of the two Palestinian territories means he can fully speak for only about half of his more than 3 million people.

Israel and Egypt have sealed Gaza's borders, raising fears of a possible humanitarian crisis. After a weekend run on basic supplies, Gazans were calmed by Israeli assurances that humanitarian aid would go through. However, Israeli officials said they had not figured out how to deal with Gaza's Hamas rulers.

At the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza, where about 300 Gazans have been trapped trying to escape Hamas rule, a clash between Israeli soldiers and Palestinian gunmen killed at least one Palestinian and wounded 15, the Israeli rescue service and Palestinian hospital officials said. Israel TV said as many as four people were killed.

Even after the shooting, Palestinian medics said, many of the wounded were treated on the spot because they refused to go to Gaza hospitals.

Israel said it was only allowing the passage of international organizations' staff, people with special permission and humanitarian cases.

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