US says it doesn't seek to impose solutions

Dubai: As Palestinian and Israeli leaders re-launched their first direct talks in 20 months in Washington on Thursday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emphasised America's "full support" to the peace process, but added the White House cannot "impose measures" on the parties concerned.

The main work, Clinton added, must be done by both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"We will be an active and sustained partner," Clinton said in her opening statement during the ceremony held at the State Department.

"But we cannot and we will not impose a solution. Only you can make the decisions necessary to reach an agreement and secure a peaceful future for the Israeli and Palestinian people," Clinton added.

The positions of both sides, however, seemed far apart, as before. Yet, they pledged their seriousness to overcome decades of mutual hostility.

While Abbas urged Israel to end all colony-building activities on Palestinian land and lift the blockade on Gaza, Netanyahu stressed that an enduring peace was not possible without security assurances for Israel. "We call on the Israeli government to move forward with its commitment to end all settlement [colony] activity and completely lift the embargo over the Gaza Strip," Abbas said.

Israel's demand

Achieving peace requires "concessions", Netanyahu said, adding he anticipates "difficult days before reaching" peace.

Israeli refusal to freeze colony activity is a clear indicator that the Washington talks are doomed to failure, experts say.

"In my opinion, the place and date of the [upcoming] talks are not important," Mustafa Barghouti, MP and secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative, a reformist political party, told Gulf News. "What is important is the agenda of the talks and its basis. Until now, there is no basis for the [current] talks."

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