Ramallah: The head of the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) executive committee, Saeb Erekat, has criticised the decision by the UK and Australia not to sign a final declaration issued at Sunday’s Paris-hosted Mideast peace conference.
In a statement, Erekat described the move as "unfortunate", saying it would only encourage Israel to "maintain its rejection of a two-state solution".
"The two-state solution is jeopardised by decisions that encourage Israel to reject it and allow Israel to continue its policy of occupation," Erekat added. The UK and Australia had both voiced reservations over the outcome of the Paris conference, which was attended by neither Israeli nor Palestinian representatives.
On Sunday, representatives of more than 70 countries and organisations attended the event in the French capital, where they called for a resumption of the moribund Palestine-Israel peace process.
In a related development Monday, Adnan Al Husseini, Palestinian minister of Jerusalem affairs, accused Israel of pursuing a policy of "ethnic cleansing" against Jerusalem’s Palestinian inhabitants.
