Palestinians Say Skip Framework, Focus on Final Peace Agreement

Israel and the Palestinians should skip over a peace treaty framework, due Sunday, and instead focus on reaching a final accord by the September deadline, a senior Palestinian negotiator said Monday.

Ahmed Korei spoke a day after the Palestinians suspended peace talks and charged that Israel is negotiating in bad faith. Palestinian officials said talks might break off for good if Washington does not succeed in softening Israeli positions.

Senior Palestinians also said they were waiting for Israel to reply to questions--on whether to extend the framework deadline and on Israel’s West Bank pullback--before talks could resume.

Israeli Foreign Minister David Levy said Israel would not respond to ultimatums and that differences should be worked out in negotiations. Israel is prepared to resume talks any time, said Gadi Baltiansky, a spokesman for Prime Minister Ehud Barak.

Meanwhile, Palestinian police released a leader of the Islamic militant group Hamas in a conciliatory gesture to the opposition group. Abdulaziz Rantisi had been jailed for 22 months after giving media interviews calling for Israel’s destruction.