Kerry Extends ME Mission, Cancels UAE Visist

Local Editor

US Secretary of State John Kerry extended for a third day on Saturday his shuttle diplomacy between "Israeli" and Palestinian leaders, in an attempt to revive the long dormant negotiations.

This comes as Kerry will take a helicopter from Occupied al-Quds to Amman to see Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas before returning in the evening to follow up with "Israeli" leaders.
Meanwhile, Kerry cancelled a dinner he had scheduled for Saturday night in Abu Dhabi, part of his separate tour in the past week through Gulf Arab states to coordinate support for armed groups in Syria.

Kerry spoke by telephone with the UAE foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan, to convey his regrets about the cancellation and to tell him that he hoped to visit at a later date, State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said.
Harf said that Kerry would still head to a meeting of Asian ministers in Brunei starting on Monday but called off the Abu Dhabi stop because his "meetings on the so-called "peace process" remain ongoing".

It was a rare public comment on Kerry's talks, with US officials saying that they planned to keep quiet about all discussions behind closed doors due to the fluid diplomacy. Kerry is likely to speak before leaving the region.
Kerry has spent seven hours since Thursday sounding out "Israeli" Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Kerry's aides have played down expectations of an imminent breakthrough and instead are hoping to make incremental progress to set the stage for substantive negotiations between the Zionist entity and the Palestinian Authority.

The two sides have not formally met for peace talks since September 2010 and even then the negotiations broke down quickly.
Kerry, following his second meeting with Netanyahu, went to dinner with "Israeli" President Shimon Peres.

Ismail Haniya, the Gaza-based prime minister, warned Abbas on Friday not to fall into the "trap of negotiations".

Abbas must "build a Palestinian strategy based on reinstating unity and ending division - building a solid and resistant Palestinian entity" before any decision to talk with "Israel" is taken, he said.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team