Abbas threatens to halt security liaison with Israel
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has threatened to halt security liaison with Israel after Israeli troops killed three Palestinians in the West Bank last week.
"The coordination and cooperation with Israel aims at protecting the Palestinian interest," Abbas said in an interview broadcast by Palestine TV on Saturday.
"If the coordination doesn't stop Israeli provocations like incursions, raids and the killing of people and arrests, we will reconsider it," he said.
The killing of the three Palestinians, who were members of Abbas' Fatah party which holds sway in the West Bank, was local experts said an embarrassment to the Palestinian National Authority (PNA).
Meanwhile, Abbas said he supports a prisoner exchange deal between Israel and his rival -- Islamic Hamas movement -- which controls the Gaza Strip.
However, he rejected deporting any Palestinian under the swap.
"I don't know if Shalit's deal would expel any prisoner, but if it does, it would be a shame," Abbas said, referring to the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit who has been held hostage by Hamas in Gaza since 2006.
Hamas and Israel have been negotiating for the prisoner swap deal through a German mediator. Hamas wants to reduce the number of prisoners whom Israel wants to deport.
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