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Barghouthi calls on PA to suspend negotiations until settlement construction stops

7 May 2008

Ramallah ? Ma'an ? Mustafa Barghouthi, the former Palestinian Minister of Information and the head of the Palestinian National Initiative, called on the Palestinian Authority on Wednesday to suspend negotiations with Israel in order to force a halt to the construction of illegal settlements.

Barghouthi said that it is unanimously agreed, at both the Palestinian and international levels, that Israel's ongoing construction of settlements on stolen Palestinian land make a peace agreement impossible.

He said the Palestinian Authority should stop negotiations with Israel, and make the resumption of negotiations conditional on a freeze on settlement activity. He also called for international monitoring of such a freeze.

Barghouthi, who is also a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, said that there is a real opportunity to stop settlements. If negotiations continue, he said, this opportunity will be lost. He says Israel will use the US presidential election as a pretext to go back on prior pledges and obligations to halt settlement activity.