US envoy discusses peace with Abbas in Paris

The United States confirmed late on Thursday that its envoy to the Middle East peace David Hale met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris.State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland confirmed in a statement that Hale met with Abbas in Paris for 45 minutes, after a call between Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.\"They had a serious discussion on all the relevant issues including the Quartet proposal of September 23rd. We look forward to continuing that discussion as we pursue the timetable laid out by the Quartet,\" Muland concluded.Washington is encouraging the Palestinian leadership to abstain from its bids to win UN membership for the independent Palestinian state, and seek to resume direct peace talks with Tel Aviv.