Abbas to Present Demands to EU at End of Month

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas will soon begin actively shopping around for a successor to the United States as a mediator in Mideast peace talks.

Abbas plans to meet with European Union officials in Brussels on January 31 to present his demands, according to a report in the London-based Pan-Arab daily al-Hayat on Thursday.

According to the report, which cites an unnamed senior Palestinian official, Abbas will present three demands to EU ministers when he travels to Brussels on January 22.

He will have three demands: recognition of the state of Palestine on the 1967 borders with East Yerushalayim as its capital; full Palestinian membership in the United Nations, and an increase in financial support to the PA in the event the U.S. cancels its aid.

A week after that, a committee of key donor groups to the Palestinians will convene in Brussels for an emergency session. This 15-member group, known as the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee (AHLC), includes the U.S. and the EU.

Earlier on Thursday, two Israeli Knesset members who had met with PA officials in Ramallah earlier this week said that the Palestinians were seeking an international coalition of nations to lead negotiations between Israel and the PA.