Chief Palestinian Authority negotiator Saeb Erekat insisted on Saturday that earlier reports suggesting the Palestinians were willing to let Israel retain control of Jerusalem's Western Wall in a future peace agreement were false.
The London-based pan-Arab newspaper al-Hayat reported earlier in the day that PA leader Mahmoud Abbas had included in a proposal to US mediator George Mitchell continued Jewish control of the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem's Old City, as well as the Kotel, or Western Wall, the most sacred site in Judaism.
But Erekat told Israel Radio that the report was erroneous, and that the Palestinians still demand the full surrender of Jerusalem, including those parts sacred to Jews, in return for a peace deal.