Direct talks continue with settlements at centre of dispute (Roundup)

Sep 14, 2010, 16:41 GMT

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - Two face-to-face meetings between Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Tuesday failed to dispel fears that the direct talks were being threatened by a dispute over settlements.

The two sessions, which appeared to have taken place in a tense atmosphere, were mediated by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Washington's Middle East envoy, George Mitchell. Both insisted Israel should not resume building Jewish settlements in the West Bank.

'Today, the parties have begun a serious discussion on core issues,' Mitchell said after the first round of the talks, which lasted for an hour and 40 minutes, though no concrete results were announced.

Abbas and Netanyahu were set to meet again in Jerusalem on Wednesday to conclude the second round of direct talks in the latest effort to reach a conclusive peace deal.

After a lunch with Clinton and Egyptian President Hosny Mubarak the Israeli and Palestinian leaders held a brief, unscheduled second discussion under US mediation.

Abbas and Netanyahu then prepared to leave the Egyptian resort town, officials said.

'President Abbas and Prime Minister Netanyahu reiterated their intent to approach these negotiations in good faith and with a seriousness of purpose,' said Mitchell, the US special envoy to the peace talks, which were re-launched earlier this month in Washington.

Responding to a question regarding planned continuation of Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank - an issue that was said to be tainting the meetings - Mitchell insisted the US wanted a halt.

'We think it makes sense to extend the moratorium,' he said, echoing Clinton's remark while en route to Sharm el-Sheikh that Israel should continue the freeze, which is set to end by September 26.

Israelis reject a total freeze, while the Palestinians oppose any new building in the settlements, with Abbas threatening to walk out of the talks if construction goes ahead.

'We will not prolong the moratorium,' Ofir Gendelman, an aide to Netanyahu, told reporters in Sharm el-Sheikh.

'We are aware of the sensitivity of the issue to the Palestinians so we are eager to find a way for all of us to go forward,' he added.

Palestinian officials have called the settlements a 'test' of Israeli intentions in the talks.

More than 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.

'We believe that both sides have a responsibility to help ensure that these talks continue in a constructive manner,' Mitchell said, adding that the US role was in supporting the talks.

In the Gaza Strip, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri warned Abbas not to continue he called 'catastrophic and destructive' talks.

Hamas, which governs Gaza, is being left out of the talks and opposes the negotiations.

Mitchell said Israeli and Palestinian negotiators would meet again in the days after the Jerusalem talks.

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.

Mitchell, meanwhile, was set to go to Syria for talks with President Bashar al-Asad later this week.

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 told reporters 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, aiming to reach a peace agreement within a year.