'We'll change face of the Mideast if settlements continue'

Abbas aid Abu Rudeineh says the Palestinian Authority will seek "serious, substantial" steps if Quartet efforts are fruitless.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
PA President Mahmoud Abbas 311 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside)
PA President Mahmoud Abbas 311 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Darren Whiteside)
Nabil Abu Rudeineh, a senior advisor to PA President Mahmoud Abbas, warned that if Israel does not stop settlement construction and if the Quartet is unable to restart the peace process, the Palestinian Authority will take a decision that "will change the face of the region and the entire Middle East," Palestinian news agency Ma'an reported, citing an interview with BBC radio.
Abu Rudeineh did not expand on what steps the PA would implement but called them "serious and substantial," according to the report.
RELATED:PA officials deny rumors of Abbas plan to dismantle PA PM mum on Lieberman's continuing censure of Abbas Also Thursday, an unnamed Egyptian official told  the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper that threats by Abbas to resign and dismantle the PA are not a maneuver but rather the product of frustration over lack of any movement in the peace process
Abbas is unlikely to surprise Arab states with his resignation, the Egyptian official said, but conceded that the decision to resign is the PA president's alone.
Regarding the option of dissolving the Palestinian Authority, a move which has been floated in recent months, the Egyptian official said that doing so would be complex, not easy and would have consequences.
Late last month, Abbas told a Fatah meeting that he planned to discuss the future of the PA with Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal during their meeting set to take place in November.
Abbas said that when he met US President Barack Obama in New York in September, he asked him for an answer as to where the Palestinians were headed.
“The important question that we are asking is: Where are we headed?” he said. “We want an answer to this question and we want to know what to do. The Palestinian Authority is no longer an authority and this is the issue that needs to be addressed.”
Khaled Abu Toameh contributed to this report