Abbas promises referendum on peace deal

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas promised on Monday that any agreement reached with the Israeli government would be put to a referendum. The assurance came on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his own commitment to a referendum on any future peace deal. But President Abbas also warned that all options were open should the negotiations fail. In an interview with Jordanian newspaper al-Rai, the Palestinian statesman said the destiny of final status negotiations with Israel would be decided during the coming days. President Abbas reiterated his support for a two-state solution, praising the US administration for its commitment to establishing a Palestinian state in accordance with pre-1967 borders. Netanyahu, on the other hand, came in for criticism for what Abbas described as impeding the peace process since coming to power in 2009. The Palestinian Authority head affirmed Israel's right to protect the security of its borders, and suggested that a solution guaranteeing security would force the Israelis to leave the Palestinian territories. Meanwhile the refugee issue will be discussed as part of the Arab Peace Initiative, in addition to agreements on security, borders and prisoners, Abbas said. On Sunday a spokesman said that President Abbas was sending delegate to Washington for lower-level preliminary talks with his Israeli counterpart about terms for negotiations, in line with an agreement overseen by US Secretary of State at the weekend. However, the spokesman stated that the resumption of talks, which broke down in 2008, was conditional on Israel recognising pre-1967 war borders and freezing settlement building.