国际英语新闻：Abbas to US envoy: talks to resume when Israel stops settlement

RAMALLAH, Sept. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Palestinians are ready to resume peace talks with Israel if the Jewish state stopped settlement construction in the West Bank, a senior Palestinian negotiator said on Tuesday.

    The negotiator, Saeb Erekat, added that president Mahmoud Abbashas informed George Mitchell, the U.S. peace envoy, about this decision at the end of a meeting held at Abbas's office in Ramallah.

    "The Palestinian side is ready to carry out its obligations and resume the final-status talks from the point they stopped at," Erekat told a news conference here. "However, this requires that Israel implement its commitments" under the U.S.-backed Road Map peace plan.

    "We have explained to Mitchell that Israel must stop the settlement activities including the so-called natural growth and that there are no middle-ground solutions when it comes to halting the settlement," Erekat added.

    Mitchell arrived in the West Bank Tuesday after meeting Israeli leaders. According to Erekat, Mitchell has told Abbas that his discussions with the Israelis "were not yet over and have not reached any sort of agreement." Mitchell will embark on a tour in some Arab states to support the U.S. efforts to push the Israeli-Palestinians peace process forward, Erekat added.