OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – After four days of intense diplomacy, US Secretary of State John Kerry headed home on Monday, insisting progress had been made despite failing to agree a framework to guide Palestinian-Israeli talks. On his 10th visit to the region as US top diplomat, Kerry spent hours locked in separate meetings with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He also made a day trip to key Arab allies, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. With the US remaining tight-lipped about the details, little news has filtered out about Kerry's proposals to bridge the huge gaps between the two sides as they seek to draw up the contours of two states living side by side. According to a report in Israeli daily Maariv, Kerry pressed Netanyahu to agree to a formula which would enable the return of some Palestinian refugees. Netanyahu refused, Maariv said. According to the newspaper, Israeli negotiators also wish to extend talks beyond their agreed April deadline to January 2015, in return for freezing some settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. Jordan and Saudi Arabia will be key to any deal. Jordan's historic role in the guardianship of Muslim sites in Israeli-annexed Arab East Jerusalem is recognized under its 1994 peace treaty with Israel. Saudi Arabia authored a 2002 peace plan which is the basis of Arab aspirations for any deal. Kerry emerged from talks with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah late Sunday to say he had won the support of the King. “His Majesty was not just encouraging, but supported our efforts and hopes that we can be successful in the days ahead and believes that this is important for the region and that there are great benefits that will come to everybody if we're able to be successful,” Kerry said. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal agreed it had been “an excellent meeting.” Kerry, who has made a Middle East peace deal a personal quest since taking office in February, is due to meet this week with top members of the Arab League to brief them on his discussions in Israel and the West Bank. Kerry left on Monday without having agreed a framework to guide the negotiations in the crunch months ahead, but US officials had already warned there would be no breakthrough on this trip. Undaunted, Kerry has vowed his team, led by special envoy Martin Indyk, will carry on working here this week, and said he will return soon. Israeli media said he could be back as early as next week. Kerry pledged any accord will be “fair and balanced,” but acknowledged on Sunday his efforts might still fail, likening the negotiations to completing a complex puzzle. “The path is becoming clearer, the puzzle is becoming more defined, and it is becoming much more apparent to everybody what the remaining tough choices are and what the options are with respect to those choices,” he said. “But I cannot tell you when particularly the last pieces may decide to fall into place or may fall on the floor and leave the puzzle unfinished. That's exactly what makes this such a challenge, and also so interesting at the same time.” – Agencies
