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Amman (AFP) Dec 5, 2010 A US proposal to bolster troubled Middle East peace talks was expected within days, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said following a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday. "His majesty and I agreed to continue our cooperation and coordination in light of an expected US position in the coming few days, and we should examine it together," a palace statement quoted Abbas as saying. Abbas did not elaborate. Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians have faltered following the end of a temporary ban on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank. Abbas says he will not return to negotiations while Israel continues to build on land the Palestinians want for a future state. But Israel has so far refused to impose a new ban. On Thursday, a Palestinian official said Washington had officially informed them that attempts to secure a new Israeli settlement freeze had failed, but US officials have refused to confirm or deny the report. The Palestinian leader was in Amman to offer his condolences over the passing of the king's British grandfather, retired Colonel Walter Percy Gardiner, who died on Wednesday, the palace said.
earlier related report He was scheduled to meet behind closed doors with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan later Sunday, before talks Monday with President Abdullah Gul, officials said earlier. The leaders will "discuss and consult on ... bilateral ties, the latest situation in Palestine and regional developments, primarily the Middle East peace process," a statement from Gul's press office said. Direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel began on September 2 but stalled three weeks later with the expiry of an Israeli moratorium on settlement construction in occupied land, which the Jewish state has stubbornly refused to reimpose. Abbas has repeatedly threatened to quit the talks if Israel does not begin a new freeze, particularly in annexed east Jerusalem which the Palestinians want as the capital of their future state. Turkey has traditionally had close ties with the Palestinians and supports their claim to statehood. It has also pressed for healing the rift between Abbas' Fatah faction and the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, while urging that Hamas not be excluded from peace efforts. Turkey's once-close ties with Israel, meanwhile, plunged into a deep crisis on May 31 when Israeli forces killed nine Turks on a Gaza-bound aid ship.
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Israel 'saddened' as Brazil recognises Palestinian stateJerusalem (AFP) Dec 4, 2010 Israel on Saturday said it was disappointed by Brazil's decision to recognise a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders, saying it flew in the face of efforts to negotiate a peace deal. The decision was announced by outgoing Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in a public letter addressed to Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas, which was made public by Brazil's foreign ministry on Fr ... read more |
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