RAMALLAH: Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas held inconclusive talks with George Mitchell on Tuesday, although the US envoy raised a few "ideas" for reviving peace talks, officials said.
The two men met in the West Bank city of Ramallah to discuss ways of resuming some form of dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians a week after face-to-face negotiations collapsed.
"Mitchell brought some US ideas," said Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina, without going into detail.
"We will wait for the Arab Committee to discuss (them) and to decide, especially as the Israeli side did not respond yet to the US ideas," he said, referring to a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Cairo on Wednesday, which Abbas is set to attend.
"Until now, it’s the beginning and there is no decision yet, and we will continue discussions with the Arabs to decide the coming steps."
Palestinian chief negotiator Saeb Erakat said the suggestions were the same as those raised when he met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington last week.
"We received ideas from Mitchell," he told AFP, without giving details. "We received these ideas before from Hillary Clinton in Washington.
Abbas and his team had outlined the Palestinian position, and insisted that all settlement activity be frozen in the occupied West Bank, including east Jerusalem, Erakat said.
"Anyone who talks about comprehensive peace must stop settlement building and Israeli activities," he said, putting the blame for the failure of direct talks squarely on Israel.
Direct talks began on September 2, but were suspended three weeks later with the end of a moratorium on Jewish settlement building, which Israel consistently refused to renew.
Mitchell was due to meet Arab League chief Amr Moussa in Cairo on Wednesday after his talks with Israeli and Palestinian officials.
Abbas was to brief the Arab follow-up committee about his talks with Mitchell and Palestinian demands for a resumption of negotiations with Israel.
