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Hillary Clinton - Source: Reuters -
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US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mohammed Abbas this weekend on her trip through the Middle East, to try to keep up pressure for a peace deal despite few signs of compromise on either side.
US officials travelling with Clinton on an official visit to Pakistan said both the location and the details of the meetings were yet to be worked out, but that the time was right given that she will meet Arab foreign ministers early next week at a forum in Morocco.
"She felt that since she was going to the region, that this was an opportunity to have direct consultations with the two leaders and the Arab ministers and to continue the effort that is ongoing," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters travelling with Clinton.
"The administration is committed to a comprehensive peace, including a two-state solution," Crowley said.
Crowley said the Morocco meetings, which will take place on the sidelines of a development conference, could be important to building support among Arab states for Middle East peace moves, one of US President Barack Obama's key foreign policy goals.
"That is a critical piece of this," Crowley said.
Clinton last week gave Obama a less-than-glowing assessment of Middle East peace efforts after the latest efforts by Middle East envoy George Mitchell appeared to bear little fruit. Mitchell returned to Israel on Thursday to resume meetings.
Obama set Middle East peace as a top priority at the start of his presidency in January, in contrast to his predecessor George W. Bush, who was criticized internationally for neglecting the long-running conflict. But so far the new administration has little to show for its efforts.
Netanyahu, whose right-leaning coalition includes pro-settler parties, has resisted Obama's calls for a total freeze on settlements in the occupied West Bank.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, politically weak because he governs only in the West Bank while Hamas Islamists control the Gaza Strip, has said he will not resume direct talks until a complete settlement freeze is implemented.
