Bethlehem - Ma'an - Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) member and head of the Palestinian National Initiative, Mustapha Barghouthi, is pessimistic about the visit of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the region.
Barghouthi told Ma'an, 'We are not counting a lot on her visit as long as the USA cannot understand that the occupation is the problem and the only solution is to end the occupation'. He also expressed his hope that she will bring some new positions to the area: 'We will wait to hear from her something about the need to pressure Israel to apply the Quartet's decisions which is to pay the taxes to the Palestinians which is now US $550 million and the current crisis is because of that'.
Barghouthi said, 'We want support from the international community to form a national government so we hope that she will understand that the key to stability in the region is the ending of the Israeli occupation'.
In regards to the emergency government he said, 'This is not the solution, and will last for one month only.'
He stressed that it is not acceptable to act unilaterally. 'Fatah cannot form the government alone as this will lead to a deeper crisis. No one faction will be able to form this government. We are calling for a government formed by Hamas and Fatah. This is the only way out and if that is impossible, then the last choice is early elections'.
He said that he expected that Abbas will enforce the decision of the withdrawal of the militias from the streets. He also called for the factions to be realistic and to know that the authority is still under the Israeli occupation and called for them to do their utmost to end the siege.
Barghouthi believes that the top priority for the Palestinians should be the withdrawal of the militias from the streets and the return to dialogue.
On the other hand, former Palestinian minister Nabil Amro said that the 'Palestinian leadership will listen to Rice and she is going to repeat what she has said in the previous visit when she called for work according to the international decisions'.
Abbas will return to the occupied Palestinian territories on Tuesday.
Rice started her visit to the region in Saudi Arabia and she will visit Egypt and Israel, in addition to the Palestinian territories.
In Israel she will meet with the Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and in Ramallah she will meet with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas.
A spokeswoman for the US Consulate in Jerusalem said that 'The Secretary is traveling to the region at the request of President Bush to consult with moderate forces and moderate voices on a number of topics, among them the possibility of moving the peace process forward.'