Mitchell says Obama wants 'immediate' Palestine-Israel talks

Date: 08 / 06 / 2009 Time: 14:27
Bethlehem – Ma’an/Agencies –

US President Barack Obama wants an “immediate” resumption in talks toward a comprehensive peace treaty, Middle East Envoy George Mitchell said on Monday.

"The President has told me to exert all efforts to create the circumstance when the parties can begin immediate discussions," Mitchell told reporters at the start of a donors conference in Oslo, Norway, according to Reuters.

Reuters reported that Mitchell, who is making his way to the Middle East, said the aim of such talks was "a comprehensive peace and normalization of relations" between Israel and its Arab neighbors, which would also serve "the security interests of the United States.”

Mitchell will meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel on Tuesday, and will seek an official response to Obama’s call for a total freeze on expansion of illegal settlements in the West Bank.

Mitchell said the purpose of the donor conference in Norway was to "provide support for the Palestinian Authority" and lay the foundation for a two state solution.

"It's important that there is a building of institutions and governmental capacity so that at an early time there can be an independent and viable Palestinian state," Mitchell said, according to Reuters.

Fair Use Notice

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.