[½»Á÷] ¡¾Original¡¿Israeli-Palestinian talks 'progress' on settlements

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have made progress on the issue of Jewish West Bank settlements in the latest round of Middle East peace talks, US envoy George Mitchell has said. His comments came after the two sides continued direct talks in Jerusalem. The Palestinians say they will walk out of the talks if a partial Israeli ban on settlement building is not extended. Israel has so far refused to renew the restrictions, which are due to expire on 30 September. The talks resumed two weeks ago, after a 20-month gap. "I will say that the two leaders are not leaving the tough issues to the end of their discussions," Mr Mitchell said. "We take this as a strong indicator of their belief that peace is possible." Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his official residence in Jerusalem in talks mediated by the US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. The talks were a continuation of negotiations which began in the Egyptian resort of Sharm-el-Sheikh on Tuesday. Few details of substance have emerged. President Abbas's spokesman, Nabil Abu Rudeina, described the talks as "serious and deep, but the obstacle of settlements still exists". Mr Netanyahu's spokesman said both sides had to make hard decisions. "The way to an agreement is to look at all the core issues together, not to run away from any one of them," Mark Regev told the Associated Press news agency. "If the expectation is that only Israel has to show flexibility, then that is not a prescription for a successful process." Mr Mitchell said the talks in Jerusalem would be followed by lower-level discussions between Israeli and Palestinian negotiating teams in the coming days. [ Last edited by mayingjiu on 2010-9-16 at 06:08 ]

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