Mitchell and Netanyahu make "progress" at London talks (Roundup)

Aug 26, 2009, 14:44 GMT

   London - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Middle East envoy George Mitchell were Wednesday said to have made 'progress' towards a resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians.

   While the two men remained tight-lipped after their meeting at a London hotel, Israeli media said they had agreed on the need to begin 'significant' peace talks.

A joint statement put out by the US and Israel characterized the meeting as 'good' and said that the goal of the negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians would be to make progress towards the drawing up of a comprehensive peace agreement.

   The statement said 'both sides need to take practical steps towards furthering the peace.'

   However, Israel's Haaretz newspaper said the two men had failed to reach an agreement on the vexed issue of West Bank settlements. The next round of talks was scheduled for the beginning of next week in Washington, Haaretz said.

   It was agreed that representatives from Netanyahu's office would travel to the US next week for further meetings with Mitchell's staff.

   Following talks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in London Tuesday, Netanyahu said that while Israel would agree on a freeze on new settlements, it hoped to find a 'bridging formula' that would allow life in existing settlements to continue as 'normal.'

   The Israeli leader took a hard line over US pressure concerning a construction project in East Jerusalem. 'To put a fine point on it, Jerusalem is the sovereign capital of Israel, it is not a settlement,' he said.

   Netanyahu travelled to Berlin Wednesday ahead of talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

London's Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday that the US were close to brokering a deal that would allow the resumption of peace talks before the end of next month.

In a report from Washington, the paper said the key to bringing Israel on board was a promise by the US to 'adopt a much tougher line with Iran over its alleged nuclear weapons programme.'

   The US, along with Britain and France, were planning to push the United Nations security council to expand sanctions to include Iran's oil and gas industry, a move that could 'cripple' its economy.

   In return, the Israeli government will be expected to agree to a partial freeze on the construction of settlements.

   'The message is: Iran is an existential threat to Israel; settlements are not,' an unnamed official was quoted as saying.

   US President Barack Obama was planning to announce the breakthrough for either a meeting of world leaders at the UN general assembly in New York in the week beginning 23 September or the G20 summit in Pittsburgh on 24-25 September, the paper said.

   The Guardian said the private negotiations had reached such an advanced stage that France and Russia had had approached the US with offers to host a peace conference.

   Israel, in return for a deal on settlements, was seeking not only a tougher line over Iran but normalization of relations with Arab states, such as overflight rights for its airline El Al, establishment of trade offices and embassies, and an end to the ban on travellers with Israeli stamps in their passports.

   Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Morocco had so far tentatively agreed, but Saudi Arabia had refused, saying Israel had already been granted enough concessions, according to the Guardian.