Excerpts of Palestinian premier's address

Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas has asked members of the Palestinian Legislative Council to support him or accept his resignation.

In his address on Thursday , Mr Abbas also spoke about the roadmap for Middle East peace, relations with the United States, and urged Washington to end its boycott of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Excerpts of the speech, carried live by the Qatari satellite TV channel Al-Jazeera, follow.

First, relations with Israel should be within the political context and according to decisions by the political leadership - that is, the PLO.

Second, reciprocity in commitments and responsibilities on a balanced basis, and not on the basis of preconditions, which are used as pretexts to hold us responsible for the evasion of commitments.

Roadmap

Third, the arbiter should be the texts of the roadmap plan, which are the signed agreements and international legitimacy.

In this context, activating the role of the international Quartet Committee, developing the mechanisms for monitoring and supervision, and showing greater international resolve to implement the roadmap, are the methods that can save the situation and prevent the collapse of this plan, which has enjoyed the broadest consensus.

Although the practical results of the attempt with the Israeli side were very limited, we have been trying, and continue to try, to work in complete seriousness. We should not abandon seriousness, relentless work, and perseverance in our effort in this direction...

I did not and will not exert any efforts to keep this post - it is a difficult mission, described by many people as impossible

Since the beginning of the establishment of official Palestinian-US relations, we have observed, with great realism, that these emerging relations come within the context of greater and deeper US-Israeli relations.

Despite our awareness of the strategic dimension of the US-Israeli relations, the eagerness to continue the Palestinian-US relationship and its development has remained an unchanging element of the realistic policy of the PLO and the PA, in view of the US influence, which is no secret to anyone...

US and Arafat

The US attitude toward President Yasser Arafat, which at one stage was identical to the Israeli attitude, is rejected.

We have worked, through many meetings with the Americans, to end this issue, first by changing the attitude of the administration, and second by exerting efforts with the Israeli side to lift the siege imposed on him.

This important issue has been raised with the Israeli side, but we have not reached any result. We will continue to work to resolve this issue, whose negative effects we are facing in all aspects of our work.

President Yasser Arafat is the constitutional, legitimate, and historical president of the Palestinian people. It is neither logical, nor ethical, nor political that he should remain under siege...

Power struggle

I did not and will not exert any efforts to keep this post. It is a difficult mission, described by many people as impossible...

Without the Palestinian Authority being the sole authority, in the absence of a single decision-making authority, without supremacy of the law over all, without one legitimate weapon in the hands of one authority, and without political pluralism we will not advance one significant step on the political march...

I call on all those who will shoulder the responsibility to go forward in this direction; this is for you to cherish. Either you provide it with the facilities of strength and support to show faith in it, or you take it back and withdraw it. I shall support any decision you reach.

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.