Middle East News

Flurry of talks ahead of direct Israeli-Palestinian meet (1st Lead)

Sep 14, 2010, 10:53 GMT

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L), US Special Envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell (R) and President of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas (C), in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, 14 September 2010 EPA/HAYAM ADEL

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - Key players in the renewed Middle East peace process began meetings Tuesday in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, ahead of planned face-to-face negotiations between Israeli and Palestinian leaders.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were expected in the early afternoon to be joined for direct talks by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Washington's Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

Whether Netanyahu and Abbas would hold a private discussion without mediation was still unclear. The two sides remain strongly divided over key issues despite a first round of direct negotations in Washington earlier this month.

While en route to Sharm el-Sheikh, Clinton said Israel should extend a moratorium on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank, which is set to end by September 26.

Israelis reject a total freeze, while the Palestinians insist on extending the moratorium, with Abbas threatening to walk out of the talks if construction goes ahead.

Over 2,000 housing units are ready for construction in Israeli settlements on the occupied West Bank as soon as the 10-month partial building freeze ordered by Netanyahu expires, the Israeli Peace Now activist group said this week.

Clinton met with Abbas, Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak ahead of her planned meeting later with the two main parties.

The parties will move to Jerusalem on Wednesday for further discussions.

On Thursday, Clinton is scheduled to meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad in Ramallah and conclude her trip by meeting with Jordanian King Abdullah in Amman.

Arab ministers are set to convene in Cairo on Thursday to review the peace process, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said.

'Our position has been clear. We refuse any end to the moratorium,' Aboul Gheit said in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders held their first direct peace talks in nearly two years in Washington this month with US President Barack Obama, saying a peace agreement could be reached within a year.