Mitchell Starts Mid-East Diplomatic Tour

Thursday January 21, 2010 19:48 by Saed Bannoura - IMEMC & Agencies

Visiting United States Special Envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, will start his diplomatic mission with a meeting with senior Israeli officials in an attempt to resume the stalled Palestinian-Israeli peace process.

Mitchell would be holding meetings with Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman, Defense Minister, Ehud Barak, and opposition leader, Tzipi Livni.

Mitchell also plans to hold a meeting with Palestinian President, Mahmoud Abbas, in Ramallah, to discuss the possibilities of resuming the peace process.

Israeli paper, Haaretz, reported that Israel’s President, Shimon Peres, warned President Abbas that the lack of progress in the peace process could lead to a third Intifada.

Peres added that Abbas “is playing with fire by insisting on not resuming the peace process”.

Abbas said that the Palestinians cannot continue the peace talks with Israel while it is ongoing with its settlement activities, invasions, assassinations and the construction of the annexation wall.

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