International News
US and Europe toil to save Middle East peace talks
Posted on: Fri October 01, 2010
International Highlights
RAMALLAH : US envoy George Mitchell held crucial talks with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas on Thursday and pledged to maintain intensive efforts to salvage peace talks with Israel. Keeping up the pressure, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was due in the region during the evening to meet Abbas ahead of talks on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking to reporters after a two-hour meeting with Abbas at his West Bank headquarters, Mitchell did not disclose details of their conversation, but said he would meet the Palestinian president again on Friday. We are determined to continue our efforts to find common ground between the parties to enable the direct negotiations to continue, Mitchell told reporters. We will continue our efforts intensively in the coming days.
Mitchell hopes to persuade Abbas to stick with the negotiations despite Israel s refusal, so far, to extend restrictions on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank.
An EU official in Jerusalem said Ashton would meet Abbas in Ramallah at around 8:30 pm (1830 GMT). She is also set to meet Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Friday before talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak, the official added.
The diplomats are seeking to stave off a breakdown of negotiations, which only restarted this month. The issue is Israel s refusal to extend a 10-month moratorium on settlement building, as demanded by the Palestinians and urged by the European Union and the United States.
Courtesy : Business Recorder