US envoy Mitchell meets Palestinian leaders ATFP World Press Roundup Article from BBC News June 10, 2009 - 12:00am US Middle East envoy George Mitchell has held talks with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank, as part of renewed US peace efforts. Mr Abbas's top negotiator said the meeting had been "positive" and called on both sides to stick to commitments made under the 2003 "roadmap". On Monday Mr Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. He reiterated calls for a two-state solution, which the Israeli leader has refused to endorse. Mr Netanyahu is scheduled to give a major foreign-policy speech on Sunday. » Read more

Abbas Tries to Fix Palestinian Side Of Peace Puzzle ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Reuters June 10, 2009 - 12:00am President Mahmoud Abbas chairs talks in Jordan on Thursday with factions of Fatah, seeking agreement to hold the first congress in 20 years of the fractured, weakened movement dominating Palestinian politics. Fatah needs to restore unity to overturn its shock 2006 election defeat by Islamist rival Hamas, and to ensure Abbas is firmly in the driver's seat for peace talks with Israel, which U.S. President Barack Obama wants to resume without delay. » Read more

US envoy pushes Middle East agenda ATFP World Press Roundup Article from The National by Vita Bekker - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am George Mitchell, the United States’s envoy to the Middle East, met senior Israeli officials yesterday in what appeared to be part of an unusually vigorous US bid to step up pressure on Israel to freeze Jewish settlement construction on occupied Palestinian land. Although Mr Mitchell was understood to have focused on the settlements in his discussions in Israel, his visit may also have proved decisive before what is expected to be a major peace policy speech on Sunday by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister. » Read more

Obama's Message Should Be Embraced ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Gulf News by Khalaf Al Habtoor - (Opinion) June 9, 2009 - 12:00am US President Barack Obama's peaceful sentiments towards the Muslim world are viewed with distrust or cynicism by some in this region and, to a point, that's understandable. I'm not given to wishful thinking and I'm definitely not naïve, but if we truly want to move forward we should do so with open hearts and minds while resisting the temptation to tar this American leader with the same brush as his predecessor. » Read more

'U.S. won't abandon legitimate Palestinian aspirations' ATFP World Press Roundup Article from Haaretz by Barak Ravid - June 10, 2009 - 12:00am The U.S. must create the conditions for the speedy resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Washington's envoy to the region said Wednesday in Ramallah, as he assured Palestinians that America would never abandon their "legitimate aspirations." "The only viable solution for this conflict is for the aspirations of both sides to be met in two states," former U.S. senator Mitchell told journalists after meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank city. » Read more