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U.S. Secretary of State Clinton meets Morocco's Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Firhi in Marrakesh on Monday. Reuters
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Last update - 22:56 02/11/2009
Clinton: Israel's settlement offer falls short of U.S. wishes
By News Agencies
Tags: Mideast peace 

Israel's offer to restrain settlement expansion is an unprecedented and positive step but still falls short of Washington's wishes, U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.

"The Israelis have responded to the call of the U.S., the Palestinians and the Arab world to stop settlement activity by expressing a willingness to restrain settlement activity," she told reporters in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh.
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"This offer falls far short of what our preference would be but if it is acted upon it will be an unprecedented restriction on settlements and would have a significant and meaningful effect on restraining their growth."

Arab states are deeply disappointed that U.S.-Israeli talks last week failed to produce greater pressure for a freeze on West Bank settlement-building, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said on Monday.

"I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed ... with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done," Moussa told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Morocco.

Following a question on whether U.S. President Barack Obama's drive to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process had failed, he said, "I am really afraid that we are about to see a failure but I still wait until we have our meetings and decide what we are going to do. But failure is in the atmosphere all over."

Moussa's comments came two days after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton raised Arab ire by praising Israel's offer to limit - but not stop - Jewish settlement construction.

On Monday, Clinton prepared to consult with Arab foreign ministers on the Obama administration's peacemaking efforts.

Clinton was to meet first with Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri before flying to the southern-central city of Ouarzazate for an audience with King Mohammed VI. Later she was returning to Marrakech for talks with foreign ministers of several Persian Gulf nations.

Clinton also was expected to meet separately with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, who has rejected U.S. appeals for improved Arab relations with Israel as a way to help restart Middle East peace talks, saying Israel is not interested in a deal.

Meanwhile, Obama's envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for further talks on Monday.

After taking office in January, Obama buoyed Palestinian hopes for progress toward establishing a Palestinian state with his outreach to the Muslim world and an initially tough stance urging a full freeze to all settlement construction.

But after making little headway with the Israelis in recent months, Clinton urged Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in a face-to-face meeting in Abu Dhabi on Saturday to renew talks, which broke down late last year, without conditions. Abbas said no, insisting that Israel first halt all settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem - lands the Palestinians claim for a future state.

Then, at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late Saturday in Jerusalem, Clinton praised Netanyahu's offer to curb some settlement construction, saying it was an unprecedented gesture.

"I believe that the U.S. condones continued settlement expansion," Palestinian government spokesman Ghassan Khatib said Sunday in a rare public chiding of Washington.

"Calling for a resumption of negotiations despite continued settlement construction doesn't help because we have tried this way many times," Khatib added. "Negotiations are about ending the occupation and settlement expansion is about entrenching the occupation."

Palestinians expressed deep disappointment and frustration at Clinton's words, which signaled a softening of the past U.S. call for a complete freeze on settlement activity.

Jordan and Egypt also issued statements Sunday critical of the latest U.S. approach to the settlements issue. Clinton spoke by telephone with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

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  • U.S. envoy: Efforts to revive Mideast talks haven't failed
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      1.   Israeli ambassador Clinton visits Morocco 12:31  |  Henon 02/11/09
      2.   A Freudian slip? 12:46  |  Sarahgit 02/11/09
      3.   Clinton 13:00  |  america 02/11/09
      4.   May I suggest.... 13:01  |  Johnboy 02/11/09
      5.   No chance (and rightly so) 13:26  |  Natallie Durson 02/11/09
      6.   What do they have to do with it 14:09  |  Jackie 02/11/09
      7.   Clinton and Arab FMs 14:13  |  Brod 02/11/09
      8.   DELETED BY MODERATOR 14:13  |  Ezra 02/11/09
      9.   Jackie you do realize the squatter colonies are theift? 15:04  |  and illegal? 02/11/09
      10.   DELETED BY MODERATOR 15:10  |  Tcherkessi 02/11/09
      11.   Good-grief...! Why didn`t Hillary speak up while she was here?!? 15:16  |  Esther 02/11/09
      12.   "FAILURE IS IN THE AIR" Arab League 15:18  |  Brant 02/11/09
      13.   Obama and the Middle East problem 15:23  |  Harold 02/11/09
      14.   Why a freeze before negotiations? 15:29  |  bernard ross 02/11/09
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