No breakthrough in Mid East talks

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed today to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume talks with Israel…

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed today to persuade Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume talks with Israel, a spokesman for Mr Abbas said this evening, citing Jewish settlements as the main stumbling block.

Ms Clinton, ramping up efforts by US President Barack Obama to revive negotiations suspended since December, flew to Israel after seeing Mr Abbas in Abu Dhabi. She planned to hold an evening meeting in Jerusalem with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

"There was no breakthrough in the talks," Mr Abbas's spokesman said. "President Abbas reiterated to Clinton that the Palestinians would not resume talks before a total settlement freeze and without setting a clear goal for the negotiations.”

Before arriving in Abu Dhabi, Ms Clinton said she would underscore to both sides that Obama was unflagging in his desire to see a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.

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"Obviously, we can't want this more than the parties want it. I mean, that's just the way negotiations are. But the fact that the United States is engaged, and that we are serious about this engagement, is, in and of itself, I think a very positive message," Ms Clinton said.

A senior State Department official said she hoped to get a clear picture of where the two sides stand before she meets Arab foreign ministers at a development summit in Morocco next week to try to drum up regional support for peace moves.

Her weekend visit to the Middle East is her second since Mr Obama took office in January. A senior US envoy, George Mitchell, has been shuttling between Israeli and Palestinian leaders every few weeks. But there is scant sign that the talks can be revived soon.

Ms Clinton said the United States continued to have "very serious questions about the settlements that Israel has promoted," but also grasped the politics at work.

"We understand that to a large extent, it has to do with their security needs and fears about trying to have a defensible perimeter around Israel," she said.