A top Fatah official says a US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, which is scheduled to be held in November, is unlikely to succeed.
"The prevailing atmosphere is not conducive to a breakthrough at this conference," said Mohammad Dahlan, former national security advisor to Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmud Abbas, at a security conference in Geneva.
Dahlan said that the Israelis or the Americans have not demonstrated "concrete commitments" for a successful meeting.
"These negotiations must have grounding and a foundation," he said, adding," If the autumn meeting is simply to organize another get-together and to repeat activities and just have a photo opportunity, this would be another disaster. "
Abbas had earlier cast a serious doubt on the conference saying the event could fail because of a lack of clarity and solution for the settlement of basic issues between Israelis and Palestinians.
He has been trying to push Israeli Premier Ehud Olmert for an explicit "framework agreement" before the conference with a timeline for implementation.
Olmert said on Monday he was not sure the two leaders would be able to reach a deal on the statehood principles ahead of the conference, which is expected to take place in the Washington, D.C., in mid-to-late November.
