ABU DHABI // A senior Fatah official yesterday compared Israel's internal inquiry into the Gaza flotilla raid to a criminal overseeing his own trial. "Imagine if the criminal wants to be the judge in court," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, a member of the Fatah executive committee. "What do you expect the result to be in that situation?"
Speaking after briefing a gathering of Emirati ambassadors in Abu Dhabi on the peace process, he said only an international inquiry into the incident would be acceptable. Mr Abed Rabbo said the Palestinian Authority would not enter talks with Israel - direct or indirect - if it resumed settlement expansion in the West Bank after a temporary moratorium ends on September 26. He added that continued settlements would also be a block to negotiations.
Mr Abed Rabbo also called for rapprochement with Hamas, which controls Gaza, through Egyptian mediators. kshaheen@thenational.ae