Palestinians backtrack, support Dead Sea for '7 wonders'
By Haaretz Service Last update - 17:00 01/07/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1097037.html

The Dead Sea will make the list of candidates for the new "Seven Natural
Wonders of the World", after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed
Wednesday to support the initiative.

Abbas' support comes less than a week after the Palestinian Authority said
it would not support the Dead Sea's candidacy, because it is being sponsored
by a West Bank settler council in the Jordan Valley.

The New 7 Wonders of Nature is a global Internet contest under the slogan:
"If we want to save anything, we first need to truly appreciate it." In 2007
it chose the new seven man-made wonders of the world.

Its rules state that if a nominee site is located in more than one country,
all countries in which it is located must form an Official Supporting
Committee (OSC) by July 7.

For the Dead Sea, a win would highlight the environmental threat to a unique
lake which has shrunk dramatically in the past 30 years due to human
exploitation of the Jordan River feed waters and Dead Sea mineral extraction