Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd and Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa Friday made a joint call for an urgent resumption of direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians. “They expressed their strong support for a comprehensive, just and sustainable peace in the Middle East, allowing both Israel and a future Palestinian state to live side by side in peace and security," the AL said in a statement. "They urged both sides to seize the opportunity for peace by continuing, as a matter of urgency, direct peace talks ... and to refrain from any actions, including settlement activity undermining the process,” it added. The peace process was thrown into disarray on Tuesday when the United States conceded it had failed in its weeks-long efforts to persuade Israel to renew a freeze on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank. US-brokered direct peace talks were relaunched in Washington on September 2 but stalled three weeks later when a settlement moratorium expired and the Palestinians refused to return to the table. Rudd arrived earlier yesterday in Cairo, where the Arab League has its headquarters, for a three-day visit to mark the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Australia and Egypt. He is due to hold talks with President Hosni Mubarak and Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit, Egypt's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) said. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday stood firm on his demand for a halt to settlement building before talks with Israel can resume, as US officials scrambled to rescue the collapsing peace process. "We will not accept negotiations as long as settlements continue," Abbas told reporters in Cairo after more than an hour of talks with President Mubarak.
