Conditions Not Ripe For Peace Talks Resumption - Palestinian PM

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 (Bernama) -- Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told World Economic Forum participants in Davos, Switzerland, that conditions are not ripe for a resumption of peace talks between Palestinians and Israelis. "Right now, one would have to work really hard to be hopeful," Fayyad was quoted as saying in a press release issued by the World Economic Forum 2012 (WEF). Speaking at a debate with Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres on Thursday, he said that the peace progress has "never been so lacking in focus" since its launch nearly two decades ago. In the session that showed a gulf between Peres and Fayyad on the day that the deadline for progress in Israeli-Palestinian talks expired, they were asked whether hope for peace between the two sides was still possible. Peres expressed hope that peace between Palestinians and Israelis can be achieved soon and called for direct negotiations to begin at once. "We need a bouquet of agreements, which won't cover all the issues, to enable the Palestinians and Israel to keep open the negotiations. I believe if we negotiate, peace will come, maybe sooner than we think," he said. Peres criticised as "arbitrary" the deadline imposed by the quartet of Middle East mediators -- the US, United Nations, Russia and the European Union -- which expired Thursday with no progress achieved in talks aimed at reviving negotiations. "Under tension and pressure, we will make mistakes," he said. He accused Iran of posing the greatest threat to Middle East peace. "They want to be the hegemon and they don’t want peace," he said, citing Tehran’s support of two armed groups that are sworn foes of Israel, the Palestinian group Hamas and Lebanon’s Hezbollah. Fayyad stressed that "we are looking for an independent, viable state of Palestine in the territories occupied in 1967." Both agreed on the need for two courses of action, namely peace negotiations and Palestinian state-building. But Fayyad said more international attention needs to be focused on the Palestinian Authority's lack of resources, which is due to a lack of financial assistance and the need for Palestinians to acquire Israeli permits to move or operate in 60 percent of the West Bank. This year's WEF, which started on Jan 25 and ends on Jan 29, sees a gathering of 2,600 decision-makers from nearly 100 countries and hundreds of companies. The 42nd meeting of the WEF is themed "The Great Transformation: Shaping New World." -- BERNAMA