Kerry trying to build support for new Israel peace talks
Source: Washington Post
Secretary of State John F. Kerry worked Monday to build support for new Arab-Israeli peace talks that would establish an independent Palestinian state and settle many other old Mideast grievances.
The Obama administration hopes to prod Israel and the Palestinians to return to talks, and to use a comprehensive regional peace plan written a decade ago by Arab leaders as a template, U.S. and other officials said.
Israel has never agreed to the Arab League plan, and several of the countries that once signed it are now under new leadership. Putting it back on the table is meant to galvanize Arab support and draw in Muslim partner Turkey, but it is not clear how much of the original document could be a basis for new talks.
“Kerry asked us to change a few words in the Arab Peace Initiative but we refused,” chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told the Voice of Palestine radio station Sunday.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/kerry-trying-to-build-support-for-new-israel-peace-talks/2013/04/08/a5bcb146-a05d-11e2-bd52-614156372695_story.html
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