PALI "UNITY" TALKS DEAD

THE PALESTINIANS CAN'T EVEN AGREE WITH EACH OTHER. HOW ARE THEY GOING TO COME TO AN AGREEMENT WITH ISRAEL?

Abbas: Unity talks deadlocked (JTA)
Mahmoud Abbas said his efforts to form a Palestinian Authority coalition government were at a “dead end.” The Palestinian Authority president made the announcement Thursday after talks with visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Abbas had hoped that a unity government between the ruling Hamas and his more moderate Fatah could prompt Western nations to lift an aid embargo on the Palestinian Authority. But Hamas has rejected Western demands that it renounce terrorism and recognize the Jewish state.

“In the past few days we have come to the conclusion that the doors are locked,” Abbas said. “We are at a dead end.” But P.A. Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh, a Hamas leader, said during a visit to Cairo that coalition talks could continue. Rice praised Abbas but called it “unfortunate” that there is not a P.A. government with which the international community can deal.