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Peres (R) and Mitchell in previous meeting
Photo: AFP

Peres to Mitchell: Time for progress

Meeting between Israeli president, US special Mideast envoy kicks off with both seemingly determined to make progress on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. 'We're going to continue with our efforts to achieve an early relaunch of talks,' Mitchell says

US President Barack Obama's special peace envoy George Mitchell said on Thursday he was seeking an "early relaunch" of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

 

"We're going to continue with our efforts to achieve an early relaunch of negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians," he told reporters before his meeting with Israeli President Shimon Peres in Jerusalem.

 

He went on to say that the US administration is committed to the peace process, and while they are aware there will be many hurdles along the way, they are ready to tackle them.

 

He stressed that his goal does not end with Israeli-Palestinian peace, but relaunching talks would be "an essential step" towards achieving a "comprehensive peace" in the region, involving Israel and its neighbours, including Syria and Lebanon.

 

Before the meeting, Peres said, "This is the time for progress; it's time to get down to business."

 

Peres welcomed his guest saying expectations are on the rise and that time is short. He said suspending the process would not yield any results, but would only be dangerous.

 

He said there are a number of elements trying to eliminate the chances for peace, and that both parties must following Obama's peace plan.

 

 

Mitchell is scheduled to meet separately with Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Defense Minister Ehud Barak later in the day.

 

Earlier, Mitchell's aides said he believes that talks between the Israelis and Palestinians can be restarted in the near future, and that the Palestinian Authority is a partner for such talks.

 

Reuters contributed to this report

 


פרסום ראשון: 10.08.09, 11:29
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