Abbas tells Arab League no more talks with Israel without a Jewish settlement freeze The USA Times

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Abbas tells Arab League no more talks with Israel without a Jewish settlement freeze

(AP Photo/Gali Tibbon, Pool)

CAIRO - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has told the Arab League he will not resume peace talks without an Israeli settlement freeze.

Abbas is under international pressure to resume low-level border talks that began last month. However, his comments Sunday seemed to close the door to further negotiations because Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly rejected a settlement freeze, as well as a demand to accept Israel's pre-1967 war frontier as the basis for a border with a future Palestine.

Abbas says he is sending a letter to Netanyahu with his demands for resuming negotiations. In case of a negative response, Abbas said he will resume the campaign for recognition of a state of Palestine by the U.N.