By Abd El-Raheem Ali, IOL Cairo Correspondent

CAIRO, November 12 (IslamOnline) - Palestinian Planning and National Cooperation Minister Nabil Shaath said the most negative aspect of the roadmap peace plan drafted by the Quartet Committee is that it gives Israel full security before withdrawing from the Palestinian territories.

In an exclusive interview with IslamOnline Monday, November 11, he said the Palestinians “discussed their own evaluation of the plan with officials in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Lebanon.”

“We also raised the issue during the extraordinary meeting of the Arab Foreign Ministers, hosted by Cairo on Saturday, November 9, and they have all endorsed our assessment of the plan,” he added.

The Palestinian evaluation outlines the negative aspects of the project, the most important being postponing the dispatch of international monitors to the Palestinian territories for nine months until the Palestinians honor all their obligations according to the first phase of the plan, Shaath stressed.

It also delays the Israeli withdrawal until after the second half of the first phase and links it to intervention in Palestinian domestic affairs and the realization of absolute security for Israelis, he added.

The roadmap peace plan did not mention Al-Quds (Jerusalem) except in one single paragraph pertaining to the re-opening of the mall in Al-Quds, ignoring the Orient House, Israeli attempts to Judaize the holy city, the transfer of its residents, building ‘Berlin walls’ to separate it from the Palestinian state and jeopardizing Al Aqsa Mosque, which they (Israelis) refuse to restore, claiming that in case of Israeli restoration it should be under Israeli control.

The plan also does not include a specific and clear mechanism to end Israeli procrastination when the plan is being enforced, said the Palestinian minister.

On the positive aspects of the plan, Shaath named the internationalization of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

“It is an international initiative placing the Israelis in a quagmire and giving the Palestinian side a chance to hold Israel internationally accountable,” he stressed.

According to Shaath, the plan also includes, in its essence, an end of the Israeli occupation, establishment of an independent Palestinian state, a solution to the issue of refugees in conformity with international resolutions as well as solutions for the so-called final status issues.

This is the first time that the United States recognizes, in a document of this kind, an international monitoring mechanism, although this point needs more elaboration, he said.

Commenting on the Israeli position vis-à-vis the roadmap plan, Shaath accused Israel of working to thwart it “because they (Israelis) do not want any international intervention in the conflict and want to complete what …. Started in Cairo in 1979 (on giving Palestinians autonomy). They want to treat the case as a domestic issue of concern to them alone and not an issue of concern to the entire international community.”

On halting martyrdom operations to pave the way for the activation of the roadmap plan, the Palestinian minister stressed “the issue is not to halt them because all the operations taking place in Jenin and Nablus were martyrdom operations in the face of soldiers trying to occupy land by force. This is the peak of heroism.”

“The issue pertains to the objective behind the operation. When Palestinians carry out operations inside a university or a school or a mall, they kill civilians, including some Palestinian Arabs, some tourists and some pro-peace Israelis,” he argued.

“This unifies Israelis around their most criminal leaders. (Israeli Premier Ariel) Sharon had never dreamt in his life of such a popularity. We have made him a hero in Israel,” Shaath said.

“These operations cost us international sympathy for our moral and human right to live freely in our homeland,” according to him.

Asked whether halting martyrdom operations was the base of discussion between Hamas and Fatah in Cairo, Shaath, who takes part in the inter-Palestinian dialogue, said: “I participated in this dialogue inside (Palestine) for a while and will continue. The aim of the dialogue is not to stop (martyrdom) operations but reaching agreement on specific objectives and ways to realize them.”

“Because of our differences, we have lost control over the few cards in our hands and we can not afford to lose more. In Cairo, we are seeking to form a popular leadership of the Intifada representing all factions. Its task will be to lead the struggle on the ground, but while keeping our elected leadership as the only legislative representative of the Palestinian people,” he stressed.

On the transfer of Palestinians from the West Bank to Jordan, the Palestinian minister described it as a present danger talked about by all Israeli powers but its realization is tied to several international and Arab circumstances.

What is more dangerous, according to Shaath, is the transfer from Al-Quds (Jerusalem) to the West Bank.

“Any aggression on Iraq will make things even more dangerous. We have pressed for an Arab position linking the two cases and the Arab foreign ministers showed genuine understanding of this viewpoint,” Shaath underlined.