(Asharq Al-Awsat-UK) Kifah Ziboun and Nazir Majli - During President Obama's four-day tour of the Middle East he did not repeat his earlier demands for construction in Israeli settlements to be halted entirely. A Palestinian source said that Obama, during his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Thursday, asked the Palestinian president not to go to the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Israel for any reason, including the settlement issue. Abbas replied that he would wait another two months before taking any steps. Obama asked Abbas to resume negotiations in order to resolve all outstanding issues, including Israeli settlements, but Abbas refused to do so and insisted on a settlement freeze before proceeding with negotiations. The source quoted Abbas as saying that the U.S. president told him that America did not want to vote against the Palestinian state but that he did not expect the Palestinians to succeed in the end via the ICC.
2013-03-25 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive