Qa'da 25, 1431, Oct 02, 2010, SPA -- Egypt is promoting an initiative that would see the Palestinians turn directly to the United Nations with demands for statehood and a halt to Israeli expansion of West Bank settlements, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told Palestinian news agency Ma'an in an interview on Monday. "When we talk about alternatives, this doesn't mean failing [in the peace] talks; we want them to succeed," Erekat told Ma'an. "The issue is not easy, and negotiation is a tool that is used to solve problems, not a goal in itself. If Israel made the talks fail, then we will go to the other options." Erekat said that the initiative's goal was to end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza through the implementation of existing U.N. resolutions. He added that ending the occupation had been the original goal of the peace process as well. Erekat blamed Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for trying to alter the basic principles of the peace negotiations, saying that Israel was attempting to undermine the Palestinian Authority's legal and political mandate and make it "just a name." --MORE
