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Palestinians Seek ’Clarity’ from US in Peace Talks

17 July 2010 19:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. An adviser to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas says the United States must provide more "clarity" regarding its position on disputed issues before Palestinians agree to direct peace talks with Israel, APA reports quoting voanews.com website.

Yasser Abeh Rabbo commented Saturday after Mr. Abbas met with U.S. Middle East Envoy George Mitchell in Ramallah.

Mitchell returned to the region several days ago for another round of indirect talks. He met with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday.

Mr. Netanyahu has indicated a willingness to move to direct talks. However, Mr. Abbas has said direct talks cannot take place until there is progress on issues including borders and security.

The Jordanian newspaper al-Ghad published an interview with Mr. Abbas Saturday that quotes the Palestinian leader as saying Israel must agree to allow a third party to guard the borders of a future Palestinian state before direct talks can begin.

After Saturday’s meeting, Mitchell said the U.S. looks forward to continuing talks in the near future on efforts to realize President Barack Obama’s vision of comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

On Sunday, European Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton is due to travel to the Gaza Strip in what will be the highest-level visit by a Western diplomat since Israel eased its land blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

Later this month, the foreign ministers of Italy, Germany, France, Spain and Britain are expected to travel to Gaza. Neither Ashton nor the EU diplomats will meet with officials from the Islamist Hamas movement, which has controlled the territory since 2007.