By Sharmila Devi in Ramallah, The Financial Times, 17.08.07

Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian Authority prime minister, on Thursday ruled out the idea of provisional statehood, saying that Israel and the Palestinians should move quickly to final status talks to end their conflict.
“We Israelis and Palestinians know where we’re going and how to get there, but the where we’re going is always postponed,” Mr Fayyad told a press conference in Ramallah. “The end-game has to be defined.”
His comments followed recent speculation that a US push on Middle East peacemaking, including the hosting of a conference later this year, was aimed at imposing interim Palestinian statehood without any clear definition of borders, the status of Jerusalem and other key issues.
Palestinians fear a flurry of recent diplomacy along with President George W. Bush’s push for a legacy would fall short of their aspirations. Mr Fayyad said provisional statehood was only an option, not a necessity, in the internationally brokered “road map”. He said it was no longer a “tenable position” as it would generate little support among Israelis and Palestinians.
The independent prime minister, who has headed a caretaker government since Hamas violently took over the Gaza Strip two months ago, said Mahmoud Abbas, president of the PA, and Ehud Olmert, Israeli prime minister, had started political discussions at a meeting last week that went beyond issues such as the lifting of checkpoints and other relief measures.
Mr Fayyad said any political framework could receive an important boost at the peace conference expected to take place in the US in November.
But he said “a lot more is needed for that meeting to be productive”.
While he welcomed recent economic initiatives, such as joint industrial projects, he said: “This is a political conflict and needs a political solution.”
He ruled out any imminent rapprochement with Hamas, saying the group would have to at least “relinquish its claims to authority” in Gaza, where it runs a rival government.