The United States said Tuesday that U.S. envoy George Mitchell is scheduled to meet Arab leaders during his regional tour aimed at rescuing new Palestinian-Israeli direct negotiations. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Mitchell will meet Israeli leaders on Wednesday and Palestinian leaders on Thursday before continuing to other Arab capitals. “He will likely remain in the region and have other discussions with regional leaders before he comes back to the United States,” Crowley told reporters without providing details about the meetings. The spokesman said Mitchell “will be consulting broadly in the region” before the Arab League follow-up committee meets in Cairo on October 4, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to announce whether or not he will continue direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
