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                     Kerry Meets Top Palestinian Negotiator

   by VOA News

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry met with chief Palestinian
   negotiator Saeb Erekat on Friday as he continued his push for
   restarting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
   There was no immediate word on the outcome of the meeting in Amman,
   Jordan, which came just hours before Kerry was scheduled to wrap up his
   Middle East trip and return to Washington.
   U.S. officials have signaled there is little chance for an immediate
   breakthrough on restarting the talks, which collapsed in 2010 over
   Israel's building of settlements on land it seized during the 1967 war.
   Palestinians are demanding Israeli guarantees about the general border
   of a future Palestinian state before agreeing to hold the talks. Israel
   wants to begin the talks immediately, but has refused to first make
   concessions on the border or settlements.
   The White House says President Barack Obama called Israeli Prime
   Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday to ask him to work with Kerry
   to "resume negotiations with the Palestinians as soon as possible."
   Kerry on Wednesday said the two sides have narrowed have their
   differences "very significantly." He did not elaborate on the comments,
   which followed a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
   President Abbas Thursday gathered senior Palestinian leaders in
   Ramallah to discuss Kerry's latest proposal. But they ended the meeting
   without making any decision.
   This is Kerry's sixth peacemaking trip to the Middle East since he
   became secretary of state earlier this year.
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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-meets-top-palestinian-negotiator/1704981.html