[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a
lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State...
met Wednesday with Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
as he seeks progress in his quest for a Middle East peace deal.
The top U.S. diplomat has spent months trying to get the Israelis and the Paleostinians to agree on a framework for resolving their decades-old conflict, but the negotiations have shown little sign of progress, with each side blaming the other.
"We are at an important point in the negotiations where we are engaged with narrowing the gaps between the parties on a framework for negotiations," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said.
"It was an appropriate time to spend a few hours meeting with president Abbas to talk about the core issues."
Kerry, who coaxed the Israelis and Paleostinians back to the negotiating table in July after a three-year hiatus, is trying to agree a framework to guide the talks as a late April deadline looms.
U.S. officials insist they are making progress on drawing up the framework, which is due to set out parameters and goals of the negotiations.
Israeli army radio Wednesday reported that Washington was to demand that Israel implement a partial settlement freeze after Kerry presents his framework.
Quoting U.S. negotiators involved in the talks, the radio said the United States was hoping to obtain a freeze on construction in isolated settlements outside the major West Bank blocs, which Israel hopes to retain in any peace deal.
Abbas meanwhile insisted on Tuesday that all issues in the negotiations, notably the refugee question, must be solved in line with international law.