PA hits back at Ahmadinejad: You have no right to speak about Palestine

Palestinian Authority spokesman lashes out at the Iranian president who criticized Palestinian negotiations with Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

By Haaretz Service

A Palestinian Authority spokesman lashed out at the president of Iran for criticizing Palestinian negotiations with Israel and PA President Mahmoud Abbas in particular, Ma’an News Agency reported on Sunday.
“The one who does not represent the Iranian people, who falsified election results, who oppressed the Iranian people and stole authority has no right to speak about Palestine, its president or its representatives,” Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudaineh said about Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

	Benjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Mahmoud Abbas as Hilary Clinton smiles on.
	Photo by: Reuters

Ahmadinejad addressed a rally last week at Teheran University, where he dismissed the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, saying the fate of Palestine would be decided in Palestine and through resistance and not in Washington.
The Ma’an News Agency reported that he also said Mahmoud Abbas was a hostage of Israel who lacked the legitimacy to negotiate on the Palestinian’s behalf.
“President Mahmoud Abbas came to power through free, democratic and authentic elections supervised by more than 2,000 international and Arab monitors,” Abu Rudaineh said in response. “We are the ones who fought for Palestine and Jerusalem … the Palestinian leadership did not oppress its people as did the Iranian leadership under Ahmadinejad.”
Last week, Egypt canceled a visit by Iran’s foreign minister to protest comments he made accusing Arab leaders of betrayal for attending the new round of Mideast peace talks in Washington.
Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki had been scheduled to visit Cairo for a meeting of Nonaligned Movement members.
“Some leaders … who follow America’s orders must understand that they are betraying their nations,” Iran’s Fars news agency quoted Mottaki as saying.
Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Jordanian King Abdullah II attended the talks.