US ME envoy meets Palestinian premier

Sunday, October 11, 2009 HELD AL-QUDS: US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad on Saturday, a Palestinian official said.No statement was issued after the meeting, which was held at the US Consulate General.Mitchell, who is struggling to get Israel and the Palestinians to resume peace talks, is to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday afternoon, Netanyahu's office announced.Israeli public radio said the US envoy should also be meeting later Saturday with two advisors to Netanyahu.On Friday, the former US senator had stressed Washington's commitment to a Palestinian state after meeting Israeli and Palestinian leaders, at a time when hopes of a peace breakthrough appear dimmer than ever."We discussed our common vision for a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory," Mitchell told journalists after his talks in the West Bank city of Ramallah with Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas."President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are deeply and fully committed to that," he added.But Mitchell gave no indication any progress was made in the separate talks with Abbas and Netanyahu.Israel has insisted the world should give up the notion that a comprehensive solution to the decades-old conflict will be found any time soon. Palestinian officials have said the deadlock was caused by the Jewish state's refusal to stop building homes for Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.