Abbas Meets Blair

The Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met quartet envoy Tony Blair in Ramallah Tuesday to discuss Palestinian plans to ask for United Nations membership for the State of Palestine. Abbas told Blair that the Palestinian leadership is holding on to the option of negotiations, but because of Israel''s refusal to accept international terms of reference to the peace process and to stop settlement activities the Palestinians were forced to choose the UN option. He said the Palestinians will be ready to resume negotiations if Israel accepts terms of reference to the peace process, the two-state solution on the 1967 borders and stopped settlements in the Palestinian Territory.