Abbas questions Israel's desire for peace

[Wordie]

Abbas questions Israel's desire for peace
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051110/wl_mideast_afp/mideastpalestinian
Thu Nov 10, 2005

<snip>
RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas questioned
Israel's desire for peace in the Middle East, in interviews given simultaneously to Palestinian television and radio.

"The question is to know whether Israel wants peace or not, and if it is ready to respect its international engagements, notably the roadmap," Abbas said, referring to the largely defunct internationally backed peace plan.

"We would like Israel to end its occupation of territory taken in June 1967. All settlements there are illegal, and we also want to resolve the refugee problem," he said during the one-hour interview.

"We cannot renounce our right to these territories, because we have already accepted to be satisfied with 22 percent of the area of historic Palestine," he said, referring to the 1993 Oslo peace deal acknowledging Israel's existence.