US pushes urgent Middle East talks

[Turborama]

Source: Al Jazeera English

The US has said it wants Israel and the Palestinians to hold "immediate talks" towards "a comprehensive peace and normalisation of relations".

George Mitchell, Washington's envoy to the Middle East, arrived in Israel on Tuesday aiming to lay the groundwork for those negotiations. It is his fourth visit to the region since taking the post.

Mitchell opened his meetings with Ehud Barak, the Israeli defence minister, before travelling to Jerusalem to meet Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, Avigdor Lieberman, the foreign minister, and Shimon Peres, the president.

He will hold talks with Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday.

"We all share an obligation to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations," Mitchell said before meeting Peres. "We're now engaged in serious discussions with our Israeli and Palestinian and regional partners to support these efforts."

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2009/06/20096925530426623.html