Released on - Saturday,17 July , 2010 -17:58
Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas said Israel must accept the deployment of an international force in a future Palestinian state before direct talks can begin, in an interview published on Saturday.
"Israel must accept that the Palestinian territory in question be that of the 1967 borders and with the presence of a third party," he told Jordan's Al-Ghad newspaper, referring to the 1967 Six-Day War.
"We will consider this as the desired progress and this will push us to embark on direct negotiations," Abbas said.
Al-Ghad said Abbas was referring to a security accord sealed under former Israeli premier Ehud Olmert calling for the presence of an international force to guard the Palestinian territories, excluding Israel.
"This is the accord and I believe that Jordan and Egypt were aware of it and gave their approval in principle," said Abbas.
In the West Bank town of Ramallah, Abbas held a three-hour meeting on Saturday with visiting US Middle East envoy George Mitchell, part of a sixth round of indirect talks with Israel.
The Palestinians have demanded a complete freeze of Israeli settlements ahead of any face-to-face peace talks and have accused Israel of undermining the process by approving new settler homes in mostly Arab east Jerusalem.
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