TIMES ONLINE: A landmark meeting organised by President Obama to persuade Israeli and Palestinian leaders to restart peace talks appeared to have ended in failure tonight.
Speaking before bringing the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, and Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, together for talks, a stern Mr Obama warned that a sense of urgency was required to lay the foundations for peace.
“Success depends on all sides acting with a sense of urgency,” Mr Obama told reporters. “Permanent status negotiations must begin and begin soon. It is past time to talk about starting negotiations. It is time to move forward.”
However, after the talks, Mr Abbas and George Mitchell, the US envoy to the Middle East, indicated that little progress had been made.
Yasser Abed Raddo, a Palestinian official, said that in the trilateral meeting Mr Abbas had restated his demand for a complete Israeli settlement freeze. Mr Netanyahu, in turn, had demanded that the Palestinians recognise Israel as a Jewish State.
Expectations of a breakthrough had been described before the meeting as “lower than the Dead Sea”, a reflection of the White House’s fears that no progress would be made at all. >>> Catherine Philp in New York | Tuesday, September 22, 2009
