Abbas: EU to push for peace talks resumption in 2013

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas revealed late Wednesday that there was European effort aimed at resuming peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis in 2013. A well-informed Palestinian source told Xinhua that Abbas informed members of Fatah Revolutionary Council during a meeting Wednesday in Ramallah that a number of European countries such as Spain, Italy and Britain were formulating a peace initiative for resuming peace negotiations by new year. The source, spoke on condition of anonymity, said that Abbas made it clear that the new initiative would be based on setting peace references and timeline as well as a two-state solution. According to the source, the initiative will be submitted to the United States, adding that the Palestinian side will accept the initiative if the U.S. is going to support it. Israeli daily Haaretz warned Wednesday that the European Union would step up efforts to pressure Israel and the Palestinians into an agreement in 2013. According to an internal foreign ministry document, said Haaretz, the EU seriously doubted the viability of the peace process in its current format to end the Palestinain-Israeli conflict, and believed that it needed a new format for making progress in 2013. Peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis hit a brick wall in 2010 over Israeli settlement expansion.