Xinhua
November 14, 2012 - 1:00am
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-11/14/c_131974674.htm


RAMALLAH, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) on Wednesday rejected Israeli threats to annul Oslo Accords, though the interim peace deal is hardly functional.

"Oslo agreement is no longer existed on the ground, since it was supposed expiring in 1999," said Saeb Erekat, the chief Palestinian negotiator.

Israel considers partial or full cancellation of the 1993 agreement if the United Nations (UN) adopted Arab-led efforts to upgrade the status of Palestine from an observer to a nonmember state.

Erekat accused Israel of taking measures that were considered as a practical cancellation of the agreement.

These measures include, according to Erekat, restricting the deployment of Palestinian forces in the West Bank, imposing a closure on the Gaza strip and adding a more Jewish identity to Jerusalem, which the Palestinians want its eastern part as a future capital.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry advised its diplomats over the weekend to inform politicians in the countries they serve in that Oslo peace deal will be annulled if the Palestinians' bid in the UN was successful.

But Erekat said that the Palestinian bid aims at "maintaining the two-state solution in the face of Israeli inflexibility," noting that peace negotiations have been stalled since 2010 because Israel refused to stop Jewish settlement in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that the Palestinian request to upgrade the status will be presented to the UN on Nov. 29.




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