Abbas, Mitchell agree length of indirect talks with Israel (Roundup)

May 8, 2010, 19:47 GMT

Ramallah - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and US Mideast envoy George Mitchell agreed Saturday that indirect talks with Israel would last four months and focus on security matters and the borders of a future Palestinian state, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said.

Abbas told Mitchell the Palestinians were ready to resume the US- mediated proximity talks, Erekat informed reporters after a meeting between the two men in Ramallah.

Erekat said core issues such as the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements would be part of the discussions on a future Palestinian state within the borders that include East Jerusalem.

The meeting came after the Palestine Liberation Organization's (PLO) executive and Fatah central committee gave the green light to the resumption of indirect talks.

'The decision was made in order to give the peace process and the efforts of the US another opportunity,' PLO executive member Yasser Abed Rabbu said, adding that 'US guarantees offered to the Palestinians were the main reason' for backing the talks.

Those guarantees include the US taking 'a firm political position against any provocation - such as settlement activities in the occupied territories,' Rabbu said.

The talks between Palestinians and US envoy were to continue Sunday, following which Mitchell was set to return to Washington.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Israeli television Saturday he hoped the proximity talks would swiftly lead to direct negotiations.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also welcomed the Palestinian approval of the talks, but said only responsibility and courageous decisions from both sides 'will make it possible to get to direct negotiations and a breakthrough towards an agreement.'

However, Israel wants to postpone discussions on Jerusalem and other highly sensitive issues to a later stage of the talks, and to start with other matters, including security and water.

Israeli President Shimon Peres told Mitchell Friday that the issue of security was highly important 'especially against the background of the (Israeli) army's withdrawal from Gaza and the evacuation of settlements at the end of which thousands of rockets were fired at Israeli communities,' according to a statement from his office.

The Islamic Hamas movement, which has governed the Gaza Strip since 2007, urged Palestinians to reject the 'absurd proximity talks', saying they would 'give the Israeli occupation an umbrella to commit more crimes against the Palestinians.'

The proximity talks are the first between Israelis and Palestinians in 17 months. The last round was suspended in December 2008 when Israel headed for new elections.

Since the return of Netanyahu's Likud to power in March 2009 the US administration has increased its diplomatic efforts to bring both sides to the negotiating table.

Mitchell, who was previously involved in the Northern Ireland peace negotiations, is to make intermittent visits to Jerusalem and Ramallah over the next four months.