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Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/15/AR2010091506565.html
Netanyahu, Abbas "Mean Business," U.S. Envoy Says
(Washington Post) Glenn Kessler - Israeli and Palestinian leaders are delving very quickly into some of the most difficult issues dividing them, U.S. special envoy George Mitchell said in an unusually upbeat report Wednesday. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu greeted PA President Abbas at his Jerusalem residence, with a Palestinian flag as a backdrop, for two hours of talks that also included Secretary of State Clinton. "They are serious, they mean business," Mitchell said afterward. "I will say that the two leaders are not leaving the tough issues to the end of their discussions," he said. "We take this as a strong indicator of their belief that peace is possible." Mitchell noted that talking about delicate issues was not the same thing as negotiating solutions. But he positively compared the experience of the past two days to his work as peace envoy in the Northern Ireland conflict. Then, he said, it was months before the difficult topics were addressed. In the current talks, he said, "it has been literally days."