Ahmed Qureia, top Palestinian negotiator with Israel, dies

RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — Ahmed Qureia, a former Palestinian prime minister and one of the architects of interim peace deals with Israel, has died at age 85. He was a key player in the 1993 Oslo peace accords and a witness to the rise of the dream of Palestinian statehood that surged during the negotiations. But Qureia also witnessed those hopes recede, with the prospect of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict drifting further than ever. Domestically, Qureia was riddled with corruption charges that tainted his reputation. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas confirmed Qureia’s death on Wednesday.