Kerry announces ?basis? for fresh Israel-Palestine talks

Kerry announces ?basis? for fresh Israel-Palestine talks

Saturday, July 20, 2013

Israeli and Palestinian officials will meet soon in Washington to work out final details on relaunching Mideast peace negotiations for the first time in five years, US Secretary of State John Kerry said.

By Matthew Lee and Mohammed Daraghmeh, Amman, Jordan

The announcement fell short of an outright resumption of the talks, which would tackle the toughest issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But after days of meeting with both sides, Kerry told reporters in the Jordanian capital they had agreed on ?a basis? for the talks.

?The agreement is still in the process of being formalised,? Kerry said, refusing to give any details on what had been agreed so far. ?If everything goes as expected?, Israeli and Palestinians negotiators will hold initial talks ?within the next week or so?, he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who met with Kerry in the West Bank town of Ramallah earlier yesterday, said ?lengthy talks... have resulted in the Palestinians accepting the resumption of talks?.

Abbas said ?some details still need to be worked out?, but Israeli and Palestinian officials could be invited to Washington for talks in the coming days.

The issue of basis of the negotiations has been a major impediment to resuming the talks.

On Thursday evening, the Palestinian leadership balked at dropping a main condition: They demand a guarantee that negotiations on borders between a Palestinian state and Israel would be based on the cease-fire line that held from 1949 until the 1967 war, when Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem. Israel rejects preconditions on the talks.

The announcement suggested the question had been resolved. Still to be worked out are the agenda of the final status negotiations and the process. Previous Israeli governments twice negotiated on the basis of the 1967 lines, but no accord was reached.

While Kerry has not publicised details of his plan, an Arab League decision on Wednesday to endorse his proposal raised speculation that the Palestinians would agree.

? Irish Examiner Ltd. All rights reserved

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