CBNNews.com - Senior Abbas aide and member of the Palestinian Authority (PA) negotiating team said the PA should declare independence in light of stalled peace talks.

"If things are not going in the direction of continuous and serious negotiations, then we should take the step and announce our independence unilaterally," said senior PA official Yasser Abed Rabbo.

The late Yasser Arafat made the same declaration in the spring of 2000, prior to the Camp David meeting in July 2000, which preceded the outbreak of the second intifada (armed Palestinian uprising) in September 2000.

In an interview with the Reuters news agency, Rabbo said the PA should consider following Kosovo's example.

Former PA Prime Minister and negotiating team chairman Ahmed Qureia rejected Rabbo's call for the Palestinian Authority to declare unilateral independence.

Sources: Reuters, Haaretz