Clinton to meet Abbas late Friday in New York
AFP
NEW YORK- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was to meet here late Friday with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas amid intense negotiations on the Middle East peace process, a US official said.
"She'll meet with president Abbas tonight," the assistant secretary for Near Eastern Asian Affairs Jeff Feltman said.
But the talks are overshadowed by the end of an Israeli moratorium on settlement building due to expire this weekend.
Abbas earlier Friday rejected an Israeli suggestion that a compromise may be possible, after Israel indicated it was willing to cut a deal acceptable to the United States and the Palestinians.
"Israel is prepared to reach a compromise acceptable to all parties," a senior Israeli government official said when asked about US President Barack Obama's call for the moratorium to be extended.
But he also stressed that "there cannot be zero construction" in West Bank settlements.
And Abbas Friday rejected any compromise that does not guarantee a "complete halt" to settlement activity, his adviser Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
"A total freeze must be maintained on settlement activity in the Palestinian territories, including in Jerusalem. We reject any partial solution," he said.
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