US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heads to the Middle East this week to nudge along fledgling peace talks that face a first test with the looming expiration of an Israeli settlement freeze.
US President Barack Obama called Friday on Israel to extend the partial freeze that expires September 26 while he pledged his administration would remain deeply engaged in the new negotiations.
As a sign of active and high-level US participation, the chief US diplomat, accompanied by Middle East envoy George Mitchell, will attend talks Tuesday in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh and Jerusalem on Wednesday.
She will meet there with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, whom she hosted in Washington on September 3 for the launch of the first direct peace talks in 20 months.
Robert Danin, a former deputy US assistant secretary of state for Near East affairs, expected settlements to be a "key issue" during the second round of talks.
"The number one challenge is getting some resolution on the settlement moratorium expiration because without a resolution of that, then everything they've launched could come to nought," Danin told AFP.
And Danin, now a fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank, believed that "both Israel and the Palestinians are actually digging themselves into very hard, entrenched positions" on the settlements.
Israeli officials have indicated that they will not extend the freeze as is, but the Palestinians have warned that they would break off the new talks if settlement building continues on occupied land.
Danin doubted the issue would be resolved during Clinton's visit, adding more intense talks on settlements could take place if Abbas and Netanyahu meet on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in the last week of September.
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Hillarysworld -> All things Hillary -> Hillary Clinton heads to Mideast to boost fledgling peace talks (Times Of India 9/12/10)