Israel okays West Bank apartments ahead of Biden visit (2nd Roundup)

Mar 8, 2010, 15:04 GMT

Jerusalem/Ramallah - Israel approved the construction of 112 apartments in a West Bank settlement Monday, a move that angered Palestinians a day after they reluctantly agreed to hold indirect peace negotations with Israel's hardline government.

The move came only hours before US Vice-President Joe Biden arrived in Israel on a three-day visit which will also take him to the Palestinian territories. He is the highest-ranking official from Barack Obama's administration to visit the region so far.

The Vice-President, who arrived in the late afternoon, is slated to hold talks with Israeli President Shimon Peres, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Opposition Leader Tzipi Livni, and with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

During Biden's visit, the US hopes to announce the restart of - indirect - Israeli-Palestinian 'proximity talks,' to be mediated by Obama's special envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, who was holding last-minute preparatory talks with the sides in Jerusalem and Ramallah on Sunday and Monday.

Defence Minister Ehud Barak, of the centre-left Labour Party, authorized builders to continue the construction of 112 apartments in the ultra-Orthodox settlement of Beitar Illit, south- west of Jerusalem.

A spokeswoman for his office said the project of 112 apartments had already been given the green light by the previous Israeli government of Ehud Olmert and its first phase had started before Netanyahu declared a moratorium on construction in the occupied West Bank in November.

She said the project was given 'exceptional' authorization despite the moratorium for 'safety reasons,' because it was dangerous to leave the construction site as is.

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat condemned the move.

'We cannot tolerate that every time we have a round of negotiations, more settlements will be built.

'This will put a question mark on what we are trying to do,' he told reporters after Mitchell met Abbas in Ramallah.

'The president has raised this issue with Mitchell,' he added.

Asked when an announcement of the start of indirect talks could be expected, he said this was 'premature.'

'Our discussions will continue,' he said.

He said Abbas received a letter of assurances from Obama over the weekend, which said the US was committed to playing an active role of mediator and, more importantly, that if the indirect talks failed, it would stipulate who was responsible.

Such a stipulation has been one of the demands raised by the Palestinians, who have been reluctant to enter into negotiations with the Israeli government of Netanyahu, who took office just under a year ago.

The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Sunday backed the start of the US-mediated 'proximity talks,' with a four-month time limit.

Intense negotiations between a team appointed by Abbas and the previous Israeli government of centrist premier Ehud Olmert were broken off some 15 months ago, just before Israel headed into elections that saw Netanyahu's nationalist Likud party return to power, while Olmert's Kadima was sent into the opposition.