US Envoy, Palestinian President Hold Talks in Egypt
VOA News
15 December 2010
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. envoy George Mitchell are holding talks with officials in Egypt Wednesday, in an effort to garner support for the Middle East peace process.
Abbas and Mitchell held separate talks with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, and each will meet separately with Arab League officials.
Egypt's state-run MENA news agency reported the two leaders discussed Egypt's efforts to move talks between Israel and the Palestinians forward. The news agency said they also talked about Egypt's support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Mitchell held talks Tuesday with Abbas in Ramallah, after holding a session late Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
Separately, United Nations Middle East envoy Robert Serry said the prospects for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could begin to evaporate next year unless progress is made in U.S.-mediated talks.
Serry told the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday that 2011 will be a critical year to reach a peace deal. He called for a "substantive third-party role in mediation," including by the Quartet on Middle East peace - the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.
Serry called Israel's refusal to agree to a new freeze on Jewish settlement construction in the West Bank "a serious setback" and said the U.S. now plans to "proactively" engage the Israelis and Palestinians in indirect talks on all final status issues.
Direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians broke down after an Israeli settlement construction moratorium expired in September.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP.
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