Senior Hamas official says no Israeli peace deal for next few years

(28 Jul 2008) SHOTLIST 1. Wide of event 2. Women holding photos of relatives imprisoned in Israeli jails 3. Women attending event 4. Children holding photos of relatives imprisoned in Israeli jails 5. Wide of senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar at meeting 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mahmoud Zahar, Senior Hamas official: "We (word inaudible) that no peace process will be achieved not only in this week, or this year, or even in the expected years because the Israeli side is not looking to give the Palestinian people their basic demands." 7. Zahar at meeting 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Mahmoud Zahar, Senior Hamas official: "One of our officials will go tomorrow, inshallah, to join one of the officials from Hamas organisation outside to meet the Egyptian side. This meeting has no relation to what is called 'call for reconciliation'. This is to continue our files and to answer many questions and to address our attitude." 9. Pan of participants STORYLINE Senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar spoke on Monday in response to the Israeli Prime Minister's comment that Israel and the Palestinians won't be able to achieve their declared goal of forging a peace deal by the end of the year. AP Television met with Zahar during an event for Palestinian prisoners' families in Rafah. "No peace process will be achieved, not only in this week, or this year, or even in the expected years because the Israeli side is not looking to give the Palestinian people their basic demands," Zahar said. Zahar also said that a Hamas delegation will leave the Gaza strip on Tuesday to meet with Egyptian officials. "This meeting has no relation to what is called 'call for reconciliation'. This is to continue our files and to answer many questions and to address our attitude," he said. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert backed away on Monday from a target date - announced with great fanfare at a US-hosted Mideast peace conference last November - of forging a deal with the Palestinians by the end of the year. The Israeli prime minister said the sides will need more time to bridge differences over Jerusalem, long the toughest sticking point in Israeli-Palestinian peacemaking. At the same time, Olmert said Arab neighbourhoods in east Jerusalem pose a danger to Israelis, hinting that Israel might want to cede control of those areas. In recent weeks, Israeli and Palestinian leaders have scaled back their ambitious goal of signing a deal before US President George W. Bush leaves office in January, saying the best that could be hoped for was the outline of an agreement. But Olmert's comment on Monday was the clearest indication yet that the Israeli leadership sees that target as unattainable. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...