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Abbas Insists on Settlement Freeze to Resume Talks
Date: 12/9/2010 11:56:58 AM Sender: VOA
Abbas Insists on Settlement Freeze to Resume Talks

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Palestinian President Abbas addresses journalists during a news conference in Athens, 9 Dec 2010


Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has repeated a demand that Israel stop settlement construction in the West Bank before peace talks can resume.

Abbas spoke Thursday in Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. The meeting came after a U.S. decision to abandon efforts to persuade Israel to renew a settlement moratorium.

Palestinian officials say Abbas also requested an emergency meeting of Arab League foreign ministers to discuss the repercussions of Washington＇s move. That meeting is expected in the Egyptian capital within days.

Mitchell trip

Meanwhile, the U.S. says it is sending Middle East envoy George Mitchell back to the region next week in an effort to advance stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.  

In announcing the Mitchell mission, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said the freeze issue had come to overshadow the broader agenda and that it is time to shift tactics.

Crowley said Washington does not believe at this time that an Israeli moratorium can provide the basis for resuming direct negotiations. Mr. Abbas reacted to the news by saying the peace process is now "in crisis."

Palestinian appeal

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Wednesday that in light of the breakdown, and decisions by Brazil and Argentina this week to unilaterally recognize Palestine as an independent state, his government would formally appeal to the U.S. to do the same.

Erekat said if the U.S. wants to safeguard the two-state solution, it should recognize the Palestinian state within its 1967 borders including all of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.

US displeasure

The U.S. State Department has expressed its disapproval of the move by South American countries to recognize Palestinian statehood, describing any unilateral action, in the absence of a peace accord between the parties, as unhelpful.

U.S. officials say a broad effort to achieve a two-state solution to the Middle East conflict will continue and that the goal of a framework agreement on core issues has not changed. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is expected to outline the Obama administration＇s commitment to the peace process in a speech in Washington on Friday.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are expected to visit Washington next week for separate consultations on how to move the Middle East peace process forward.

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