Clock Ticking, US Scrambles to Save Mideast Talks

Israelis already celebrating end of settlement slowdown
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 26, 2010 1:50 PM CDT
Clock Ticking, US Scrambles to Save Mideast Talks
A bulldozer works in a construction site in the Jewish settlement of Adam outside Jerusalem, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010.   (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)

With Palestinians threatening to walk away from Mideast peace talks, officials in Washington are scrambling to rescue the negotiations just hours before a slowdown on West Bank settlement construction expires. "They are talking. Intense efforts are ongoing," said one anonymous official. PM Benjamin Netanyahu has called for "restraint" as the slowdown expires.

Israeli settlers are already celebrating the demise of the 10-month-old sanctions, reports the AP, breaking ground on a new daycare center and proclaiming their readiness to start building 2,000 new apartments in the disputed territory. (More Mideast peace stories.)

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