International News
Palestinians agree to indirect peace talks with Israel
Posted on: Mon March 08, 2010
International Highlights
RAMALLAH, West Bank: The Palestinians agreed on Sunday to give indirect peace talks with Israel a chance after months of US-led efforts to lure both sides back to the negotiating table.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, a senior official in the Palestine Liberation Organisation, announced the Palestinians would embark on US-mediated talks but expressed deep scepticism over the prospects of success.
The Palestinian leadership has decided to give an opportunity for the American suggestion to hold indirect talks between the Israeli and Palestinian sides, Abed Rabbo told reporters in the West Bank town of Ramallah. But he went on to cite a list of Israeli violations of previous agreements, led by the continuing expansion of settlements that he said would make direct negotiations impossible and could scupper the indirect talks. The decision, taken at a PLO executive committee meeting in Ramallah, came as US Middle East envoy George Mitchell was meeting with Israeli leaders on his latest trip to the region.
Mitchell met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for over two hours Sunday afternoon, in what a statement from Netanyahu s office characterised as a good conversation. The statement said the two would meet again on Monday, before Mitchell goes to Ramallah for talks with the Palestinian leadership.
US Vice President Joe Biden is also expected this week. The Palestinians approval was expected after Arab foreign ministers last week expressed grudging support for the talks, following months of shuttle diplomacy by Mitchell.
Courtesy : The News