No talks until Israel ends roadblocks, settlements, says Palestinian envoy

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will tell US President Barack Obama at meetings Thursday that he will not restart peace talks unless Israel removes all roadblocks and halts settlements in the West Bank, the top Palestinian negotiator says.Palestinians will not restart peace talks with Israel unless it removes all roadblocks and freezes settlement activity in the West Bank, top negotiator Ahmad Qurei said in an interview on Tuesday.Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas will present the conditions during his first official meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington on Thursday, Qurei said in an interview with the Haaretz daily."There will be no negotiations without a complete cessation of the settlements, including what you call 'natural growth,'" he said, referring to construction in existing settlement blocks."There will be no negotiations without an evacuation of the outposts established since 2001," he said, referring to settlements in the occupied West Bank built without authorisation from the Israeli government."Before the negotiations, Israel will have to remove also all the internal roadblocks that dissect the West Bank," he said, referring to the more than 600 barriers that Israel erected in the aftermath of the second Palestinian intifada that severely hamper freedom of movement in the West Bank.Qurei reiterated the Palestinians' refusal to recognise Israel as a Jewish state as demanded by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as part of a final agreement.