Abbas, Netanyahu agree to resume talks

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas agreed yesterday to resume their peace talks in the Middle East on September 14-15, US special envoy George Mitchell said.

The two leaders “agreed to meet again on September 14 and 15 in the region and every two weeks thereafter”, Mr Mitchell told reporters as Abbas and Netanyahu continued a private one-on-one meeting.

In earlier 90-minute three-way discussions hosted by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, which he called “long and productive”, Mr Mitchell said both expressed their intent to pursue the negotiations in “good faith and seriousness of purpose”.

Both Mr Netanyahu and Mr Abbas “condemned all forms of violence that target innocent civilians and pledged to work together to maintain security”, Mr Mitchell said.

“They reiterated their common goal of two states for two peoples and to a solution to the conflict that resolves all issues and all claims that establishes a viable state of Palestine alongside a secure state of Israel,” he said.

The two leaders agreed that the negotiations “can be completed in one year and that the aim of the negotiations is to resolve all core issues”, he said, referring to security, borders, the status of Palestinian refugees and the fate of Jerusalem.

“The parties agreed that a logical next step would be to begin working on achieving a framework agreement for permanent status.

“The purpose of a framework agreement will be to establish the fundamental compromises necessary to enable them to flesh out and complete a comprehensive treaty that will end the conflict and establish a lasting peace,” he said.