A senior Palestinian official said Friday that the failure of the Camp David summit with Israel in the United States was a success for the Palestinians.
"In our opinion it was a success for the Palestinian side and clear proof of our tenacity to political principals," said Faruq Qaddumi, chief of the Palestine Liberation Organization's political department.
He said Israeli officials "did not show good intentions" towards the peace process in the run up to the Camp David negotiations and said the process was now suffering from "a kind of stagnation."
"Our long experience of negotiations with Israel, with the US mediating, has taught us about Israeli negotiating methods and their goals," he told reporters on arrival in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials.
"It's as if they believe we could give up on the land occupied in 1948 and the refugees who must return to their lands," Qaddumi said.
The Palestinian official told reporters on arrival in Egypt that a possible visit by US Middle East envoy Dennis Ross to the region would not benefit the peace process.
"How could Ross make progress when US President Clinton failed to help the two sides reach a solution?" he asked.
US officials on Thursday denied earlier reports that Ross would travel to the Middle East soon to launch a new mediation effort – CAIRO (AFP)
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