And for him, and for the jihad against Israel, it certainly did — by granting renewed legitimacy to numerous concepts and goals that should long ago have been discarded. By Challiss McDonough for VOANews (thanks to Mackie):
On a visit to Egypt Saturday, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the recent Annapolis peace conference achieved its goal of re-launching negotiations for a Middle East peace agreement. VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from Cairo.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the meeting in Annapolis did what it was intended to do, which was launch negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians that he hopes will lead to a permanent peace deal.
Mr. Abbas was speaking to reporters in Cairo after meeting with Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak. He tried to ease regional skepticism about the outcome of the Annapolis conference.
He said some people believed what he called “this myth” that the Annapolis meeting would produce a deal, but he said it was only intended to launch negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.