By Andrew Quinn
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Saturday, launching a rapid series of meetings with Palestinian and Israeli officials to keep up pressure for a peace deal.
Clinton met Abbas in Abu Dhabi after winding up a trip to Pakistan. She was due to fly to Israel later on Saturday for evening meetings with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
An Abbas aide said that the meeting with Clinton yielded no progress towards resumption of negotiations with Israel, suspended since December. "There was no breakthrough in the talks," Nabil Abu Rdainah told Reuters by telephone.
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'There was no breakthrough in the talks' A senior State Department official said Clinton hoped to get a clear picture of where the two sides stand before she meets Arab foreign ministers at a development summit in Morocco next week to try to drum up regional support for peace moves.
"She reported to the president last week that the process is going through a difficult patch and she is using the opportunity, being in the region, to consult with the leaders, see where they are, and how we can get the process moving forward again," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Before arriving in Abu Dhabi, Clinton said she would underscore to both sides that President Barack Obama was unflagging in his desire to see a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians.
"Obviously, we can't want this more than the parties want it. I mean, that's just the way negotiations are. But the fact that the United States is engaged, and that we are serious about this engagement, is, in and of itself, I think a very positive message," Clinton told the BBC in an interview.
Little sign of reviving talks
'... the process is going through a difficult patch' Clinton's weekend visit to the Middle East is her second since Obama took office in January.
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