CAIRO: Arab League chief Amr Mousa said on Wednesday that there was widespread pessimism in the region about new peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, Egypt’s state MENA news agency reported.
He said that an Arab League committee, which in July gave its backing to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas’s decision to resume direct negotiations with Israel, may soon have to meet to review the progress of the talks.
"The role of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee is ongoing, and there are many who are pessimistic about the outcome of these negotiations," MENA quoted Mousa as saying.
"So we may soon have to convene a meeting to assess the situation," he added.
Abbas is to meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington on Thursday for the formal relaunch of the talks, which he broke off after Israel launched a devastating offensive against the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
