Abbas says will quit if talks fold - Israeli lawmaker

Enlarge Photo Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with Yossi Beilin, a member of the Israeli...

Sun, May 18 10:34 PM

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli politician said on Sunday that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had told him he would consider resigning in six months if the Palestinians and Israel failed to reach a peace agreement.

Left-wing Israeli deputy Yossi Beilin, who was involved in previous peace negotiations with the Palestinians, said in a statement he had met Abbas on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

"I didn't take the presidency upon myself simply for the role, but to fulfil a mission," Beilin's office quoted Abbas as saying. "There is no point in continuing in that capacity if it becomes clear there is no chance of achieving peace."

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched peace negotiations in November with the aim of reaching an agreement by the time U.S. President George W. Bush leaves office in early 2009, but the talks have shown little progress so far.

Talks have been marred by Israeli settlement building and violence in the Gaza Strip, which Hamas Islamists seized last year, limiting Abbas's control to the occupied West Bank.

Speaking in Sharm el-Sheikh at the end of a Middle East tour, Bush sought on Sunday to reassure sceptical Arabs that he was committed to securing a deal on Palestinian statehood despite his outspoken support for Israel.

When asked about Beilin's comments, senior Abbas aide Saeb Erekat that Abbas was determined to reach an agreement with Israel by the end of the year.

"In case of failure to achieve this goal, he will weigh his options then, not now," Erekat said.

(Additional reporting by Wafa Amr in Ramallah)

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