Abbas meets US defence secretary

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Ramallah on Monday with US. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta. During the meeting, Abbas stressed that the Palestinian side is ready to return to negotiations in the event that Israel implement the obligations including settlement and accept the principle of the two-state solution on the 1967 borders. For his part, the US official said that the two-state solution is for the benefit of both Palestinian and Israeli sides .. and stressed the need to find a way to return to the negotiations between the two sides. The US Secretary of Defence had met earlier in Jerusalem with Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. His visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories was part of a tour that also includes Egypt.