Middle East News
Netanyahu in Paris for talks with Sarkozy
Nov 11, 2009, 16:24 GMT
Paris - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived in Paris Wednesday for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy on the stalled Mideast peace process.
The meeting promises to be tense, as Sarkozy has repeatedly called for a total freeze on Israeli settlement activity in the interest of a lasting peace.
Netanyahu has rejected these demands, claiming that Israeli settlers in the West Bank had the right to expand their communities.
On Tuesday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said there was 'a real political disagreement' between Sarkozy and Netanyahu regarding settlement activity.
'We continue to think that a freeze on settlements - that is, no settlement construction during (peace) talks - is absolutely indispensable,' Kouchner told France Inter radio.
The Israeli prime minister met late Monday in Washington with US President Barack Obama. Their talks apparently failed to produce any progress towards reviving Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations.
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