| Clinton, PA negotiator to hold talks |
WASHINGTON Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat will meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton here next week in a bid to try to breathe new life into stalled peace talks, a US official said on Friday.
In another development, a rocket was fired into southern Israel on Saturday but exploded in an area of open desert causing no damage or injuries, a military spokeswoman said.
Clinton had already met with Israeli negotiator Yitzhak Molho and “she’ll see Erakat next week,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
The top US diplomat had also talked two days ago with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and separately with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
“All of this is further to encouraging them to build on the exchange of letters and continue to take the next step toward the table,” Nuland told journalists.
“We’re trying to improve the atmosphere so that we can make progress and get them back to the table.”
While direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians remain in deep freeze, top officials from both sides have been holding a quiet dialogue on a range of issues, including an exchange of letters between Netanyahu and Abbas.
Envoys from the Middle East Quartet met in Brussels on Friday amid calls from the Palestinians to step up action to halt continuing Israeli settlement activity.
Officials from the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia gathered “to consult as they routinely do over the phone as well”, said a spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
The spokeswoman declined to say from which direction the rocket might have been launched, although the Egyptian border on the west side has been more volatile recently.
“Last night an explosion was heard in the Arava area in southern Israel ... Following an examination in the area it was determined that the rocket was probably a Grad, and the incident is currently being reviewed,” the spokeswoman said.
Agencies
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