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AFPWASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Barack Obama has made it clear to Israel he wants no "natural growth exceptions" to his call for a freeze in West Bank settlements, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
Her remarks about settlements during a visit by Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit of Egypt, a key mediator in peace talks, were the most explicit yet since Obama came to office in January.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told his cabinet Sunday he did not intend to build new settlements but that "it makes no sense to ask us not to answer to the needs of natural growth and to stop all construction," aides said.
But Clinton said the "president was very clear when Prime Minister Netanyahu was here during his visit to the White House on May 18.
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