Ramallah - Visiting US envoy George Mitchell ended his latest mission to Israel and the Palestinian territories without managing to secure an agreement which would kick-start stalled peace talks, a senior Palestinian official said Friday. "This shuttle is over without an agreement," chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said after Mitchell met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah early Friday afternoon.
Mitchell had met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Friday morning in an attempt to secure an Israeli commitment to a freeze on construction in Israeli West Bank settlements.
The US has demanded such a freeze, and Abbas has endorsed the US demand, saying peace talks will not be renewed until Israel halts completely all construction in its West Bank settlements. Abbas has stipulated the same condition for meeting President Barack Obama and Netanyahu on the fringes of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Netanyahu however is not willing to declare a total freeze, but is ready to announce a temporary, limited one - a proposal Mitchell apparently carried with him to his meeting with Abbas.
Erekat however said that "President Abbas will not agree to a middle-ground solution on settlements."
