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Western officials in Middle East to save peace talks
[Al Arabiya] United States envoy George Mitchell said on Thursday after crucial talks with Paleostinian leader the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas he would maintain intensive efforts to salvage peace talks with Israel.Speaking after about two hours of talks with Abbas at his West Bank headquarters, Mitchell did not disclose details of their conversation, but said the two would meet 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 news hounds. "We will continue our efforts intensively in the coming days." He hopes to persuade Abbas to persist with negotiations despite Israel's refusal, so far, to extend restrictions on Jewish settlement building in the occupied West Bank. EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton was also due to arrive later in the day to add her voice to efforts to keep Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on track. An EU official in Jerusalem said Ashton would meet Abbas at around 8:30 pm (1830 GMT). She will meet Paleostinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Friday morning then have talks with Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak, the official added. Posted by: Fred 2010-10-01 |
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