Page 2 - ARUBA TODAY

A2 UP FRONT
Thursday 14 december 2017
Abbas says UN should replace US as Mideast mediator

By KARIN LAUB uncharted territory. mean an endorsement of summit of the 57-member a news conference that it
ZEYNEP BILGINSOY He does not have an imme- specific boundaries of Is- Organization of Islamic is “out of the question” for
Associated Press diate practical alternative raeli sovereignty in Jerusa- Cooperation ended with Washington to continue
ISTANBUL (AP) — Breaking mediating between Israel
with years of courting the and the Palestinians.
U.S., Palestinian President “That process is now over,”
Mahmoud Abbas called he said.
Wednesday for the United Abbas’ speech marked
Nations to replace Wash- a high-profile break with
ington as a Mideast me- what had been his unwav-
diator and suggested he ering policy in more than
might not cooperate with a decade as Palestinian
the Trump administration’s leader. Despite setbacks,
much-anticipated effort to he had considered a close
hammer out an Israeli-Pal- relationship with the U.S. the
estinian peace deal. centerpiece of his efforts
At a summit in Turkey, Arab to win Palestinian state-
and Muslim leaders “re- hood through negotiations.
jected and condemned” When Trump was elected a
President Donald Trump’s year ago, Abbas went out
recognition of Jerusalem as of his way not to criticize
Israel’s capital — the trig- the new president, for fear
ger for Abbas’ sharp policy of harming the relationship.
pivot — but stopped short On Wednesday, he ex-
of backing his more com- pressed a sense of be-
bative approach toward trayal. “We were shocked
Washington. by the U.S. administra-
A possible Palestinian re- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas gestures as he talks during the closing news conference tion,” Abbas said. “While
following the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation’s Extraordinary Summit in Istanbul, Wednesday,
fusal to engage with the Dec. 13, 2017. Muslim nations of the 57-member Organisation of Islamic Cooperation are rejecting we engaged with them in
U.S. and growing back- U.S. President Donald Trump’s declaration of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and appear set to the peace process for the
lash against Trump’s shift counter it with a declaration of east Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian state. sake of a deal for the ages,
on Jerusalem, including (Onur Coban/Pool Photo via AP) (Trump) delivered a slap for
from Arab allies, cast new the ages.” Abbas said the
doubt over the administra- to more than two decades lem has not gained trac- a call on Trump to rescind United States has disquali-
tion’s already seemingly of U.S.-led negotiations on tion in the ensuing uproar. an “unlawful decision that fied itself as a mediator.
remote chances of broker- the terms of Palestinian The fate of Jerusalem is a might trigger chaos in the “We will no longer accept
ing a deal and succeed- statehood. The Palestinians hot-button issue in the re- region” and on the world to that it has a role in the po-
ing where its predecessors seek such a state on lands gion, and even the leaders recognize east Jerusalem litical process,” Abbas said.
have failed. captured by Israel in the of Saudi Arabia and Egypt as the capital of a state of The Palestinian leader said
A senior White House of- 1967 Mideast war — the — reportedly eager to help Palestine. he remains committed to
ficial said the administra- West Bank, Gaza Strip and advance Trump’s Mideast The final statement lacked a two-state solution but
tion will continue to work east Jerusalem. efforts — cannot afford to tougher criticism of U.S. that he would push for the
on a Mideast plan “that On the other hand, Trump’s be seen as soft on the reli- policy contained in an ear- U.N. to assume responsibil-
we hope will offer the best recognition of Jerusalem as gious claims of Muslims and lier draft, which questioned ity and “find a new mecha-
outcome for both peoples” Israel’s capital was decried political claims of Palestin- Washington’s continued nism” for resolving the con-
and will present it when by Palestinians and others ians to the contested city. role as a Mideast mediator flict. In another sign of a
the time is right. The official in the region as a provoca- Israeli-annexed east Jeru- and warned that Trump’s harder Palestinian stance,
spoke on condition of ano- tive show of pro-Israel bias, salem is home to Islam’s shift on Jerusalem threat- Abbas aides said earlier
nymity in advance of an making it difficult for Abbas third-holiest shrine, along ened global security. this week that he would
expected public statement to justify dealing with Wash- with the most revered site in Turkish President Recep not meet with Mike Pence
later Wednesday. ington as a mediator. Judaism and a major Chris- Tayyip Erdogan, who host- when the U.S. vice presi-
In seemingly shunning the Trump’s argument that his tian church. ed the summit, stuck to dent visits the region, start-
U.S., Abbas finds himself in announcement does not Wednesday’s extraordinary the harder line, saying at ing this weekend.q

Tillerson says US open to possible talks with NKorea

By MATT oping. Tillerson said his boss, vent, using military force if listic missile launches and a road map, of what we
PENNINGTON President Donald Trump, necessary. one nuclear test explosion, might be willing to work to-
Associated Press endorses this position. “We are ready to talk any- its most powerful yet. wards.” Although Tillerson
WASHINGTON (AP) — Sec- Tillerson’s remarks Tuesday time North Korea would like “Let’s just meet and we said the goal of U.S. policy
retary of State Rex Tillerson came two weeks after to talk. And we are ready can talk about the weather remained denucleariza-
has softened America’s North Korea conducted a to have the first meeting if you want to. We can talk tion of the Korean Penin-
stance on possible talks test with a missile that could without preconditions,” Til- about whether it’s a square sula, he added it was “not
with North Korea, calling it potentially carry a nuclear lerson said at the Atlantic table or a round table if realistic to say we’re only
“unrealistic” to expect the warhead to the U.S. Eastern Council think tank. that’s what you are excited going to talk if you come
nuclear-armed country to Seaboard — a milestone in He said that the North about,” Tillerson said. “But to the table ready to give
come to the table ready to its decades-long drive to would need to hold off on can we at least sit down up your program. They’ve
give up a weapons of mass pose an atomic threat to its weapons testing. This and see each other face too much invested in it. The
destruction program that it its American adversary that year, the North has con- to face and then we can president is very realistic
invested so much in devel- Trump has vowed to pre- ducted more than 20 bal- begin to lay out a map, about that as well.”q