Mitchell rounds up Mideast tour in Saudi
US President Obama's special envoy meets with King Abdullah in Amman, Prince Saud al-Faisal in Riyadh on final leg of regional tour aimed at reviving peace process
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell flew in to the Saudi capital late on Saturday on the final leg of a regional tour aimed at reviving peace efforts, the official SPA news agency reported.
Mitchell met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal and was also expected to meet King Abdullah, a key force behind the Arab peace initiative to resolve the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
Mitchell and Prince Saud discussed "the importance of moving the peace process forward" to achieve an independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian state, SPA said.
Earlier in the day he met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who urged Washington to resume its efforts to clinch a two-state settlement between Israel and the Palestinians.
The king “insisted on the importance of relaunching peace negotiations on the basis of two states, Palestinian and Israeli, stressing that we must not start a different process,” a palace official said.
“We need to act quickly - without wasting time - on negotiations based on two states and not be diverted by new proposals,” the king was quoted as saying in his meeting with Mitchell.
Mitchell has been touring the region for talks on consolidating the January 18 ceasefire which ended the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas which rules the Gaza Strip.
US President Barack Obama’s new envoy said in Jerusalem on Friday that the United States was committed to “actively and aggressively” seeking lasting peace in the Middle East but warned there would be further setbacks.
He kicked off his maiden regional tour in Egypt and has held talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas.
The 75-year-old former US senator, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland in 1998, has been charged with “vigorously” resuscitating the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
