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US bid to revive Mideast talks falters over settlements
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US bid to revive Mideast talks falters over settlements
AFP - 2 hours 34 minutes ago
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A handout picture shows Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (R) standing with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton prior to a meeting in the Emirati capital of Abu Dhabi. Clinton on Saturday struggled to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiations table, with the thorny issue of Jewish settlements once again blocking the way.
JERUSALEM (AFP) - – US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Saturday struggled to get Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiations table, with the thorny issue of Jewish settlements once again blocking the way.
Washington's top diplomat landed in Israel for talks with hawkish Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior officials after "difficult" talks with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in Abu Dhabi.
The Palestinian leader insisted once again on a complete Israeli freeze on settlement activity in the occupied West Bank, before the resumption of peace negotiations, which were suspended during the Gaza war at the turn of the year.
"Israel should honour its obligations especially with regards to the total halt on the settlements," Abbas told reporters after the meeting in Abu Dhabi, adding that no breakthrough had been reached.
"The problem with the Israeli government is that it refuses to stop building settlements," he said.
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said Abbas's meeting with Clinton was "frank and difficult" and warned that the gap between Israel and the Palestinians was "widening even more."
Israel has up to now refused a complete halt to settlement activity in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, where the Palestinians wish to create their future state and capital together with the Gaza Strip.
A senior US official travelling with Clinton admitted a "difficult period" in peace efforts, but insisted that "neither side has shut the door."
Defence Minister Ehud Barak said hours before Clinton's arrival that peace negotiations should be launched "in the coming weeks."
"It is essential that both sides make an effort to start the negotiations. This is a unique opportunity. A deadlock would only serve Hamas and the radical elements in the region," Barak's office quoted him as saying.
Washington has for months been struggling to revive peace talks as part of a push toward a regional deal that would also see Israel strike peace with Syria and Lebanon and Arab states normalise relations with the Jewish state.
But the efforts have so far made little visible progress, with the issue of Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, considered illegal by the international community, the main stumbling block to resuming talks.
US President Barack Obama's administration had insisted on a complete settlement freeze after Netanyahu assumed office seven months ago, including in annexed east Jerusalem, which Israelis see as their "eternal, indivisible" capital.
After Israel repeatedly balked, Washington eased up, saying that the most important thing was for the talks to resume.
But the Palestinians are insisting on a complete halt, including in mostly Arab east Jerusalem, which Israel captured from Jordan along with the rest of the West Bank in the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed in a move not recognised by the international community.
"The question (of Jerusalem) was at the centre of discussions with Mrs Clinton," said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, adding that "peace starts in Jerusalem" and blaming Israeli "intransigence" for the diplomatic impasse.
"Without Jerusalem, there will be no point in peace," he warned, saying that "the American administration, in addition to being a mediator, has to press Israel (to respect) its commitments" including in Jerusalem "whose annexation is not recognised by the United Nations or the international community."
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