RAMALLAH, Feb 26, 2008 (Xinhua via COMTEX) -- Disappointed of the current Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, a Palestinian negotiator on Tuesday called for new alternatives to be found on the Palestine issue.
"I'm afraid that the Palestinian side is still so far from reaching an agreement with the Israeli side," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, who is also a member of the Palestinian Liberation Organization's (PLO) executive committee.
Abed Rabbo attributed the slow progress in the talks to the Israeli policies against the West Bank such as the building of " settlement, barrier and checkpoints."
He called on the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) to "think about alternative options because adopting one political strategy was a political suicide," Abed Rabbo said in an interview with Voice of Palestine radio.
The negotiations were launched during a U.S.-hosted peace conference in late November but so far achieved practically nothing.
The PNA complains that Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank though the first phase of the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan calls for immediate suspension of the settlement activities.
Abed Rabbo also called on Israel to lift the blockade on the Palestinian territories and remove the roadblocks.
Earlier, Abed Rabbo said that the Palestinians will unilaterally declare their statehood if the talks with Israel failed. But chief negotiator Ahmed Qurei denied such an intention.