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Abbas Sticks to West Bank Settlement Halt Demand

   VOA News 09 December 2010
   Palestinian  President  Abbas  addresses  journalists  during  a  news
   conference in Athens, 9 Dec 2010

Photo: Reuters

   Palestinian  President  Abbas  addresses  journalists  during  a  news
   conference in Athens, 9 Dec 2010

   Palestinian  President  Mahmoud  Abbas  has  reiterated  a demand that
   Israel must halt settlement construction in the West Bank before peace
   talks can resume.
   Abbas  spoke  Thursday  in Cairo, where he met with Egyptian President
   Hosni  Mubarak  in  the  wake of a U.S. decision abandoning efforts to
   persuade Israel to renew a settlement moratorium.
   Palestinian  officials  say  Abbas  has  also  requested  an emergency
   meeting  of Arab League foreign ministers to discuss the repercussions
   of Washington's move. That meeting is expected in the Egyptian capital
   within days.
   Mitchell trip
   Meanwhile,  the  U.S.  says  it  is  sending  Middle East envoy George
   Mitchell  back to the region next week in an effort to advance stalled
   peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
   In  announcing  the  Mitchell mission, State Department Spokesman P.J.
   Crowley  said  the  freeze  issue  had  come to overshadow the broader
   agenda and that it is time to shift tactics.
   Crowley  said Washington does not believe at this time that an Israeli
   moratorium can provide the basis for resuming direct negotiations. Mr.
   Abbas  reacted  to  the  news  by  saying the peace process is now "in
   crisis."
   Palestinian appeal
   Chief  Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said Wednesday that in light
   of  the  breakdown, and decisions by Brazil and Argentina this week to
   unilaterally   recognize   Palestine  as  an  independent  state,  his
   government would formally appeal to the U.S. to do the same.
   Erekat  said if the U.S. wants to safeguard the two-state solution, it
   should  recognize  the  Palestinian  state  within  its  1967  borders
   including all of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
   The U.S. State Department has expressed its disapproval of the move by
   South   American   countries   to   recognize  Palestinian  statehood,
   describing  any  unilateral  action,  in the absence of a peace accord
   between the parties, as unhelpful.
   Houses  under  construction  are  seen  in  a  Jewish  settlement near
   Jerusalem  known  to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal
   Abu Ghneim, 08 Dec 2010

Reuters

   Houses  under  construction  are  seen  in  a  Jewish  settlement near
   Jerusalem  known  to Israelis as Har Homa and to Palestinians as Jabal
   Abu Ghneim, 08 Dec 2010

   Settlement freeze 
   Meanwhile,  U.N.  Secretary-General  Ban  Ki-moon  Wednesday called on
   Israel  to freeze "all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian
   territories,  including East Jerusalem." Ban said he is encouraged the
   United States has indicated its determination to push for a negotiated
   solution, and urged full cooperation of the parties to that end.
   U.S.  officials  say a broad effort to achieve a two-state solution to
   the  Middle  East  conflict  will  continue  and  that  the  goal of a
   framework  agreement on core issues has not changed. U.S. Secretary of
   State   Hillary   Clinton   is   expected   to   outline   the   Obama
   administration's  commitment  to  the  peace  process  in  a speech in
   Washington on Friday.
   Israeli  and  Palestinian negotiators are expected to visit Washington
   next  week  for  separate consultations on how to move the Middle East
   peace process forward.

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