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US urges Arab support for Abbas

NEW YORK: The United States urged Arab states on Saturday to provide political backing for the Palestinians to begin peace talks with Israel even if a freeze on Jewish settlements in the West Bank is not in place.

A US official on Saturday said Washington was still trying to put together a package of reciprocal Israeli, Arab and Palestinian steps - including a settlements freeze - in advance but that this could not hold up the start of talks. "We don't want to have the perfect be the enemy of the good," US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Feltman told reporters. "We're not going to wait for the perfect package before we start negotiations."

The United States had tried in advance to work out a deal under which Israel would halt settlement building, Palestinians would do more to prevent attacks on Israelis and Arab states would move toward normalising ties with the Jewish state. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met senior officials from nine Arab states to discuss those issues as well as Iran's nuclear programme and recent violence in Iraq and Yemen.

Clinton said she was pleased with what she heard from the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members as well as officials from Egypt, Iraq and Jordan but declined to say whether they might support the start of talks without a settlement freeze. "We had a very positive and productive conversation," Clinton told Reuters. "I was pleased by the comments that the countries made, but I'm not going to go any further than that because we are still in the midst of trying to move toward the ... commencement of negotiations."

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, in remarks prepared for delivery at the UN General Assembly on Saturday, struck a pessimistic note. "Unfortunately, no real results or notable signs of progress have been achieved in spite of the commendable endeavors of the United States of America (and) the evident personal desire of President Barack Obama and his team to further the peace process," he said. reuters

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