Barak skips trilateral meeting

Occupied Jerusalem: A US general on Friday gave Israel and the Palestinians his first assessment of where they were failing to meet peacemaking commitments, but Israel's Defence Minister, under fire over colonies, did not attend.

US-backed peace talks launched at a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, in November have been bogged down by tensions over Israeli colonisation expansion in the occupied West Bank and an upsurge in violence between the two sides.

"We examined areas where the parties are not meeting their commitments and the reasons why, and explored ways to accelerate the process," the US Consulate in occupied Jerusalem said after the two-hour meeting, chaired by General William Fraser.

Appointed by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to oversee implementation of the long-stalled "roadmap" peace plan, Fraser has made no public statements about his secret assessment, described by sources as critical of Israel.

"Our goal remains the fulfilment of the parties' roadmap obligations," the Consulate said.

The roadmap calls on the Jewish state to remove outposts and to halt all colonisation in the territory. Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad attended the trilateral meeting. Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak did not attend the meeting.