国际英语新闻：Second round of direct Israel-Palestinian peace talks held in Egypt

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Israeli and Palestinian leaders started their second round of direct talks on Tuesday in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh to discuss core issues without any tangible progress so far.

The talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas took place at the presence of U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

The participants have had "serious discussions on core issues," Mitchell said without giving details about the discussion. The borders of a future Palestinian state, the fate of Palestinian refugees and the future of Jerusalem are among the core issues facing the two sides.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U. S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and U.S. peace envoy to the Middle East George Mitchell hold talks in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm El-Sheikh, Sept. 14, 2010. Egypt is hosting the second round of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

The talks, which started shortly after midday, lasted about one hour and 40 minutes. The three parties had another meeting later after a luncheon hosted by Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Before the lunch, Mubarak, Netanyahu, Abbas and Clinton also held a meeting to review the negotiations.

"We continue our efforts to make progress and we believe that we are moving in the right direction overall," Mitchell said when asked if progress had been made on settlement.

But so far no news of any compromise on the settlement issue, a major threat to the Middle East peace process, has emerged.