Diplomats: Arabs want return to indirect talks
Arab leaders may also decide to give US one more month to work on stalled peace talks, sources say
Diplomats participating in the Arab League summit in Libya say some Arab countries are proposing that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas return to indirect negotiations to avoid a total breakdown of Mideast peace talks, AP reported Friday.
Meanwhile AFP reported that another proposal has been made, by which Arab nations will give the US another month to attempt to find a solution to the stalemate in talks, brought on by renewed construction in West Bank settlements.
Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said Friday that Arab leaders will begin drafting alternatives for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process because the current round of talks has stalled due to "Israeli negativity".
"We will meet to formulate the beginning of alternatives within the framework that the negotiations are not bearing fruit," Moussa said after a meeting of the Arab League's peace process follow-up committee in Libya.
"There are no talks at the moment because the position of the Israelis is very, very negative. They are not cooperating in the negotiations," Moussa said.
The committee would meet the Palestinian delegation on Friday night but would not advise Abbas what he should do next, Moussa said.
The Arab League foreign ministers met in the Libyan town of Sirte to hear Abbas's case for suspending talks with Israel until it extends a moratorium on Jewish settlement-building in the West Bank.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said earlier the Palestinian leader would tell the Arab states that "resuming negotiations requires a full freeze of settlement activities".
Abbas has said he wants to go on negotiating but cannot unless the building of new homes for Jewish settlers is frozen for "three to four months more to give peace a chance".
Netanyahu says it would be tragic if Abbas walked away over an issue which he says is irrelevant to the possible outcome of talks.
AP, Reuters, and AFP contributed to this report
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