27/09/2013 10:00
Palestinian leader urges world powers to rein in Israeli settlements
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday that "time is running out" for Middle East peace efforts and urged world powers to rein in Israeli settlement construction that he warned could undermine U.S.-sponsored negotiations, Reuters reported.
In an address to an annual gathering of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly, Abbas committed to negotiating with Israel in good faith but he also painted what he called a "dispiriting and bleak" picture for peace prospects.
Abbas's assessment came one day after Secretary of State John Kerry suggested a more hopeful outlook, saying the two sides had agreed to intensify talks and increase the U.S. role.
The resumption of long-dormant peace talks in July was an achievement for Kerry, but many Israelis and Palestinians - as well as independent experts - are skeptical about the chances of reaching a peace deal in their decades-old conflict.
"Time is running out, and the window of peace is narrowing and the opportunities are diminishing," Abbas said. "The current round of negotiations appears to be a last chance to realize a just peace."
Abbas spoke at the United Nations for the first time in the official name of the State of Palestine. Over U.S. and Israeli objections, the General Assembly last November voted to upgrade the Palestinians to "non-member state" from observer entity.
Abbas sought to assure Israelis that the raising of the Palestinians' U.N. status was not meant to "delegitimize" Israel and he called on them to work with him to "sow the seeds of good neighborliness" between their peoples.