The U.S. envoy for the Middle East peace process is visiting Europe next week and the region later this month as Washington attempts to persuade Israel and the Palestinians to return to peace negotiations, the State Department confirmed Thursday. Mitchell will visit Paris and Brussels next week to meet European officials and members of the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators, which groups the United Nations, the United States, the European Union, and Russia. Mitchell"s travel is part of efforts to try to resume peace talks that were cancelled a year ago over the Gaza War. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is meeting her counterparts from Egypt and Jordan in Washington on Friday. Mitchell will depart for Europe on Sunday and will return to the United States before flying to the Middle East later in the month, the department said, without providing precise dates or stops for his trip to the region.
