Originally posted by the Voice of America.
Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America,
a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in
the public domain.


Mideast Quartet to Discuss Boosting Israeli Palestinian Talks

   VOA News 21 September 2010
   Israeli  Prime  Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, shakes hands with
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, as U.S. Secretary of State
   Hillary  Rodham  Clinton  looks  on  during  a  meeting at Netanyahu's
   residence in Jerusalem, Israel, 15 Sep 2010

Photo: AP

   Israeli  Prime  Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, shakes hands with
   Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, as U.S. Secretary of State
   Hillary  Rodham  Clinton  looks  on  during  a  meeting at Netanyahu's
   residence in Jerusalem, Israel, 15 Sep 2010

   The international Quartet of Mideast peace mediators meets in New York
   Tuesday    to    discuss   ways   of   encouraging   recently-launched
   Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.
   U.S.  Secretary  of  State  Hillary  Clinton,  EU foreign policy chief
   Catherine  Ashton  and  their Russian and U.N. counterparts are due to
   hold talks on the sidelines of a U.N. General Assembly meeting.
   Ashton  and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Israel Monday
   to  extend  a  moratorium  on  West  Bank settlement construction that
   expires Sunday.
   Palestinians  claim  the Israeli-occupied West Bank for a future state
   and say they will drop out of talks with Israel if settlement building
   resumes.
   Israeli  Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office has said he has no
   plan  to  extend  the  moratorium,  but  intends to limit the scope of
   future  construction.  Clinton  has  said  a  limited extension of the
   10-month  moratorium would not undermine the peace talks if both sides
   agree to it.
   Palestinian  spokesman Husam Zomlot told the Associated Press that his
   government  will  not  show  flexibility  on  what  it considers to be
   illegal settlement building by Israel.
   Pro-settler   members   of   Mr.   Netanyahu's  nationalist  coalition
   government  oppose  any  extension of the moratorium, which Israel has
   described as a one-time gesture to help revive peace talks.

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

.