Ramallah (West Bank), Nov 30: Two key Palestinian officials who negotiated a symbolic Mid East peace agreement have cancelled their participation in a signing ceremony in Switzerland this week, Palestinian officials said today.
The decision of Qadoura fares, a Palestinian Cabinet minister, and Mohammed Horani to pull out of the signatory ceremony tomorrow -- along with a violent protest in the Gaza Strip -- raised doubts about the Palestinian public's support for the document.
The so-called "Geneva accords”, reached by former Israeli and Palestinian negotiators, outline the establishment of a Palestinian state and include unprecedented concessions by both sides.
Palestinian officials involved in the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that fares and Horani continue to support the accords but do not want to participate in the signing ceremony due to strong opposition in their Fatah Party, which is headed by Yasser Arafat.
Arafat has given tacit approval to the accords, but they have not been officially accepted by either side. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has harshly criticised the deal.
Palestinian officials involved in the negotiations of the document have been threatened by militant elements warning them not to sign it. Masked gunmen fired shots last week at the home of former Palestinian minister Yasser Abed Rabbo, a key architect of the agreement.
Palestinian security officials said they thought the shots were fired by Fatah militants. Bureau Report