Palestinians say building will end peace talks European Union wants moratorium extended OCCUPIED JERUSALEM – Israel has rejected a proposal to extend by three months a West Bank settlement building freeze whose looming expiration threatens to sink peace talks, officials close to the negotiations said Thursday. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended three days of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders Thursday with no visible sign of progress on breaking a deadlock over building in West Bank settlements. The Palestinians reiterated a threat to leave the nascent negotiations if settlement construction were to resume when a moratorium expires on Sept. 30, and Israel reaffirmed it would not extend the freeze, even for a limited period. On another possible peace track, US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in Damascus and said Washington's focus on an Israeli-Palestinian deal would not deflect it from pushing for an Israeli-Syrian accord. In an interview with Israel's Channel 10 television, Clinton said it would be “extremely useful” if Israel agreed to a limited extension of the 10-month, partial settlement freeze. But officials close to the talks said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had rejected a proposal to extend the moratorium by three months. Clinton met Abbas in the West Bank city of Ramallah in an attempt to break the deadlock. She renewed the US commitment to an independent, sovereign and viable Palestinian state despite a row over settlements that threatens fledgling peace talks. Clinton made the remarks in the West Bank's political headquarters in Ramallah as she began a meeting with Abbas, who said that “conditions are difficult” but that “there is no choice but negotiations.” At a meeting of the Arab League in Cairo, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Malki restated the Palestinian threat to leave the negotiations “if one settlement is built after the end of the freeze”. Wrapping up a round of negotiations that began in Egypt on Tuesday, Clinton held talks in Jordan with King Abdullah after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city Ramallah. “Today, His Majesty and I discussed ongoing negotiations and I expressed my confidence that Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Abbas can make the difficult decisions necessary to resolve all of the core issues within one year,” she told a news conference in Amman. Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak told Israel's Channel 1 TV he had raised the idea with Netanyahu to keep the moratorium in place for another three months, hoping to buy time for negotiators to agree on the borders of a Palestinian state. In Damascus, Mitchell, who had accompanied Clinton to the region, told reporters: “Our effort to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in no way contradicts or conflicts with our goal of a comprehensive peace including peace between Israel and Syria.” Israeli and Palestinian negotiators were due to meet next week and set a new date for leaders to convene. In a statement, Netanyahu's bureau said he was standing by his position not to extend the moratorium. He has said, however, he intends to limit the scope of future settlement construction. Meeting in Brussels on Thursday, European leaders issued a statement also calling on Israel to extend the moratorium. The Arab League's chief, Amr Moussa, said “negotiating while settlements are built is a waste of time”. As part of US President Barack Obama's drive for a wider peace between Israel and the Arab world, Mitchell plans to visit Lebanon to meet Lebanese leaders.
