‘EU backs Kerry push for ME talks’

European Union’s top diplomat Catherine Ashton says European foreign ministers fully support US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts to keep talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) alive.

“We support the efforts of Secretary of State Kerry,” Ashton, the EU foreign affairs chief, said on Saturday after a two-day meeting in the Greek capital, Athens.

The remarks came as tension mounted on both sides over the so-called peace talks, making Washington review its push for a deal between the two.

On Friday, US Secretary of State John Kerry said there were “limits” to the time and energy US government could give to the talks.

According to sources close to the talks, Israel’s chief negotiator Tzipi Livni said that Israel would not go ahead with the promised release of 26 Palestinian inmates.

The Israeli-PA talks reached a new deadlock when the Tel Aviv regime refused to free the final batch of 104 Palestinian prisoners in late March as part of a deal for the resumption of US-sponsored negotiations.

The move prompted the Palestinians to respond by applying to join 15 international agencies on April 1.

The direct talks resumed last July. Palestinians have objected to a number of issues, including the Israeli regime’s illegal settlement expansion in the occupied Palestinian territories.

The PA also refuses to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, saying it would not accept any agreement with the regime, which fails to include East al-Quds (Jerusalem) as the capital of a future Palestinian state.