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AL endorses Palestinians on direct talks with Israel

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The Arab League (AL) agreed Thursday in principle to endorse direct peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel, but left the time for holding the talks to the discretion of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas prays before the start of a meeting with senior Fatah and PLO leaders in the West Bank city of Ramallah May 31, 2010. [Xinhua]

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem, who chaired a ministerial meeting of the Arab Peace Initiative Committee, said that the committee agreed on proceeding direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

It would be determined by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on when and how to start direct talks, based on whatever conditions he sees fit, Jassem said in a joint press conference with AL Secretary General Amr Moussa after the meeting.

Western countries have been exerting pressures on the Palestinians to shift immediately from indirect talks to face-to-face negotiations with Israel, which they hold is the only sensible way to make progress.

However, Abbas insisted on the necessity of progress in indirect talks before moving to direct negotiations, repeating on the eve of the meeting that he will not accept direct talks until progress is achieved on security and border issues.

He also listed settlement freeze and recognition of the peace process references as conditions for direct talks.

Hesham Youssef, chief of AL secretary-general's office, said the meeting gave a "yellow light that needs some work before it turns green."

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