(NEWS) PLO Agrees To Direct Talks With Israel

"The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) said early Saturday that it accepted a United States invitation to resume direct peace negotiations with Israel.

The PLO executive committee made the decision after an emergency meeting chaired by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday night, the Palestinian state-run news Agency 'Wafa' reported.

'Counting on the international Quartet's statement issued today, the executive committee announces its acceptance to resume the talks to resolve all the permanent status issues and to attend the meeting in Washington on Sept. 2 that U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton called for,' said the PLO said in a statement.

If Israel did not refrain from the complete cessation of all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territories, 'it would be threatening the continuation of the direct talks,' the statement warned.

Earlier on Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton told a news conference that Washington would invite Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington on Sept. 2 to resume the direct peace talks.



Israel welcomed Clinton's invitation, while Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and King Abdullah of Jordan will also be invited to Washington and join the meeting.

Gaza Strip ruling Islamic Hamas movement on Friday rebuffed the U.S. call to launch direct peace talks.

Sami Abu Zuhri, the Gaza-based Hamas spokesman, told Xinhua earlier on Friday: 'We in Hamas reject the American invitation to resume the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.'

'This call and its consequences won't abide our people in anything,' he said. 'This call is a new attempt to deceive our Palestinian people, because it is useless and will bring us back to zero without achieving any results.'" (source)