Date :4 Jul 2010
Chief PLO negotiator Saeb Erekat denied reports on Saturday that President Mahmoud Abbas conveyed a list of proposals to Israel through US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on final status agreements.

Erekat's comments follow a report in the London-based Arabic language daily Al-Hayat that Abbas handed Mitchell an agreement that would including handing over Israeli control to the Jewish Quarter in East Jerusalem's Old City, as well as the West Wall by the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

Speaking to Radio Israel, Erekat said the current US-brokered indirect talks were secret and would not be released to the public.

According to Al-Hayat, the proposal reportedly included a land-swap deal that would place illegal settlements in East Jerusalem under Israeli control in exchange for a Gaza-West Bank passageway and land bordering the southern West Bank.

Indirect talks between Israeli and Palestinian officials began in May and were given a four-month deadline. The Obama administration called for the current round of negotiations to lead into direct talks, which were broken off in December 2008 as Israel launched its devastating Operation Cast Lead on Gaza.