Abbas condemns Jerusalem rampage

By · July 3, 2008

Mahmoud Abbas condemned the Jerusalem bulldozer rampage and called for progress in Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

“As far as the Jerusalem attack is concerned, we condemn it,” the Palestinian Authority president said Thursday during a visit to Slovenia.

But he added a standard note of equivocation which has long aggrieved Israelis: “We strongly condemn all attacks of violence regardless of source and shape. We wish for a peaceful solution based on negotiations and there is no other alternative but negotiations.”

Al-Aqsa Brigades, a wing of Abbas’ Fatah, was among Palestinian terrorist groups that claimed responsibility for Wednesday’s attack, in which three Israelis and the Arab assailant died. But Israeli police said it appeared the bulldozer driver acted alone.

Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert launched peace talks at a U.S.-sponsored conference last November but have been bogged down in disputes.

The Palestinians said Washington wants to host intensified negotiations this month.

“President Bush said that he always thinks about the success of this peace process. Soon the Palestinian and Israeli delegations will start with a new round of talks in Washington,” Abbas said.