PA cracks under pressure; modifies talks team

JERUSALEM, Nov 4: Bowing to US and Israeli pressure, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has agreed to expand its delegation to peace negotiatio...

JERUSALEM, Nov 4: Bowing to US and Israeli pressure, the Palestinian Authority (PA) has agreed to expand its delegation to peace negotiations in Washington to include technical experts on interim peace agreements, Israeli Radio reported.

The Palestinians had earlier refused to include experts on the interim matters in the talks for fear of diverting the negotiations from what they see as the key issues of Jewish settlement expansion and overdue Israeli troops withdrawals from the West Bank.

But the radio said the Palestinians agreed during a first round of discussions late Monday to Israeli demands, backed by Washington, to handle both sets of negotiations simultaneously.

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The interim issues focus on the opening of a Palestinian airport in Gaza, establishment of a joint industrial zone on the Israel-Gaza border and the creation of “free passage” corridors between the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Earlier, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said the technical experts would go to Washington only once progress had been made on the core settlement and troop withdrawal issues.

It was not immediately clear if the decision to expand the negotiations was the result of such progress being made in late night talks in Washington.