Mitchell to Israel, PA: Annapolis accord non-binding

Mitchell to Israel, PA: Annapolis accord non-binding The Obama administration announced Monday night that Israel and the Palestinian Authority Cord embroidery fabrichave agreed to resume the peace process by means of indirect negotiations, facilitated by U.S. special envoy for the Middle East George Mitchell.

Mitchell told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas that the understandings reached following the 2007Annapolis Conference are non-binding in the current round of negotiations, Haaretz has learned.

Mitchell met with Netanyahu Monday, and then went to Ramallah to meet Abbas.

"I'm pleased that the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships have accepted indirect talks," Mitchell said in a statement last night. "We've begun to discuss the structure and scope of these talks, and I will return to the region next week to continue our discussions. As we've said many times, we hope that these will lead to direct negotiations as soon as possible."

The American envoy also called on "the parties, and all concerned, to refrain from any statements or actions which may inflame tensions or prejudice the outcome of these talks." Sources in the Prime Minister's Bureau expressed satisfaction that negotiations are restarting after more than a year, but refused to comment on the details of the process.

The United States has told the Palestinians that if the sides do not meet expectations, it will "act accordingly."

A senior Palestinian source told Haaretz Monday that the Palestinians and the Arab League have received American assurances that "we will be actively involved in managing the indirect talks, and also proposing ideas and bridging ideas of our own."

The U.S. has allotted the process four months to reach results. Regarding whether the U.S. would then announce whether the sides' positions reflect the international consensus on the conflict, the Americans told the Palestinians that the U.S. "expects both sides to behave seriously, with honesty and in good will because, if one of the sides, in our judgment, does not fulfill our expectations, we will make our concerns clear and we will act accordingly in order to overcome every obstacle."

The announcement that negotiations are resuming came despite disagreements Cord embroidery fabricbetween the three sides over the structure of the talks.