Pope asks Abbas about Netanyahu meeting

Pope Benedict XVI has met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Vatican and asked about his encounter last month with the Israeli prime minister. Benedict greeted Abbas in the Apostolic Palace, and the two spoke for 15 minutes in private.

As they sat down at the pope's desk, Benedict asked Abbas about his September 22 meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. President Barack Obama hosted the two leaders at a New York hotel on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in a bid to prod them to restart peace talks. (AP)