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| With Mideast Peace Talks Faltering, Kerry Will See Abbas | |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| ROME — Secretary of State John Kerry plans to fly to Amman, Jordan, on Wednesday and will meet with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, a senior State Department official said Tuesday. | |
| The meeting comes at a critical juncture in the Middle East talks. | The meeting comes at a critical juncture in the Middle East talks. |
| The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are supposed to continue until April 29, the nine-month target date for coming up with a framework agreement to guide negotiations. But those talks have been jeopardized by a looming confrontation over the anticipated release of a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. | The Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are supposed to continue until April 29, the nine-month target date for coming up with a framework agreement to guide negotiations. But those talks have been jeopardized by a looming confrontation over the anticipated release of a fourth group of Palestinian prisoners from Israeli jails. |
| Mr. Abbas has insisted that the prisoners be freed by the end of this month, as promised. Israel agreed to release Palestinian prisoners in stages as part of an understanding under which the Palestinians would refrain from pressing their case for statehood for nine months in the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. | Mr. Abbas has insisted that the prisoners be freed by the end of this month, as promised. Israel agreed to release Palestinian prisoners in stages as part of an understanding under which the Palestinians would refrain from pressing their case for statehood for nine months in the United Nations and the International Criminal Court. |
| But with the talks bogged down, Israeli officials say they are worried that the Palestinians will not negotiate seriously in return for the prisoner releases, and do not want to free them unless the Palestinians agree to extend the talks beyond April. | |
| Mr. Abbas met with President Obama last week in Washington. Mr. Kerry’s plan to meet the Palestinian leader in Jordan is an indication that the talks, always difficult, have entered an especially delicate phase. | Mr. Abbas met with President Obama last week in Washington. Mr. Kerry’s plan to meet the Palestinian leader in Jordan is an indication that the talks, always difficult, have entered an especially delicate phase. |
| “Secretary Kerry will travel tomorrow to Amman, Jordan, to meet with President Abbas to continue to narrow the gaps between the parties,” said Jen Psaki, the State Department spokeswoman. She added that Mr. Kerry would also be in contact with the Israeli leader, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, “over the phone or video conference.” | |
| Mr. Kerry’s envoy for the peace process, Martin Indyk, has been meeting intensively with negotiators on both sides since returning to the region on Saturday in an effort to keep the prisoner release on track and prevent the negotiations from falling apart. | Mr. Kerry’s envoy for the peace process, Martin Indyk, has been meeting intensively with negotiators on both sides since returning to the region on Saturday in an effort to keep the prisoner release on track and prevent the negotiations from falling apart. |
| If the prisoner issue can be resolved, the Obama administration’s immediate focus is securing a framework accord that would codify the main outlines of a comprehensive peace agreement. | If the prisoner issue can be resolved, the Obama administration’s immediate focus is securing a framework accord that would codify the main outlines of a comprehensive peace agreement. |
| That goal is far less ambitious than the one Mr. Kerry initially set when the talks began: the negotiation of a comprehensive peace treaty in nine months. | That goal is far less ambitious than the one Mr. Kerry initially set when the talks began: the negotiation of a comprehensive peace treaty in nine months. |
| Apart from the timing of the prisoner release, there is a dispute over the 104 long-serving prisoners who are to be set free. The Palestinians say that they should include 14 Arab citizens of Israel and that Mr. Kerry led them to believe that this would be the case. But Israeli officials insist that they made no commitment to release Arab Israelis. | |
| Mr. Kerry arrived here in the Italian capital on Tuesday evening after a heavy schedule of meetings in The Hague, which included a meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and other diplomats. | Mr. Kerry arrived here in the Italian capital on Tuesday evening after a heavy schedule of meetings in The Hague, which included a meeting with the Russian foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, and other diplomats. |
| He had delayed his departure to meet with Mr. Obama and Susan E. Rice, Mr. Obama’s national security adviser, on Ukraine and other foreign policy issues. | |
| Mr. Kerry is scheduled to rejoin Mr. Obama for his visit to Saudi Arabia. | Mr. Kerry is scheduled to rejoin Mr. Obama for his visit to Saudi Arabia. |