Jerusalem, March 12: US Vice President Joe Biden was last night struggling to keep freshly announced Middle East negotiations on track despite a threat by the Palestinians not to participate unless Israel reverses its latest settlement expansion plans for East Jerusalem.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned the Vice President in a telephone call that Israel would need to abandon its plan to build 1,600 new homes for ultra-orthodox Jews in the Ramat Shlomo settlement in the Arab eastern sector of the city, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah told .
Mr Biden sought, in a major speech at Tel Aviv University later, to put the row with Israel behind him while urging an early beginning to “proximity” or indirect talks. “The most important thing is for these talks to go forward and go forward promptly and go forward in good faith,” Mr Biden said.
–Agencies