Palestinians should follow Kosovo example: negotiator

[maddezmom]

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AFP) - A senior Palestinian official on Wednesday called for a Kosovo-like declaration of independence in the absence of progress in talks with Israel but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas insisted he will continue negotiating.

"Our people have the right to proclaim independence as the people of Kosovo did. We were occupied long before the Kosovo problem emerged," Yasser Abed Rabbo, one of the Palestinian negotiators, told AFP.

"Measures must be taken with a view to a unilateral declaration of independence as Kosovo did, and the world will then have to ensure the end of the occupation of our land," he said.

He pointed out that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat symbolically proclaimed independence in 1988 but that "it never was applied on the ground as we wanted this to be done through negotiation."

"Today we want to unilaterally proclaim our independence on the ground and through peaceful means, and will call on our people to protect their state, borders, institutions and the future of their children," Abed Rabbo said.

more:http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080220/wl_mideast_afp/mideastconflictpalestiniankosovo_080220131104