By NNN-KUNA
Washington : The United States has welcomed the decision by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to resume negotiations.
“The Israelis and the Palestinians have said that they will return to talks, and we are encouraged by this development,” said White House spokeswoman Dana Perino during a briefing Wednesday.
“We know there is a lot more work that needs to be done, but the President (Bush) is pleased that Prime Minister Olmert and President Abbas are not going to be deterred from the potential to achieve peace and security by establishing a framework for what a Palestinian state would look like before the end of his term.”
During a subsequent State Department briefing, deputy department spokesman Tom Casey said he was pleased that as a result of the current trip to the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, there is a commitment by the Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations toward a two-state solution.
Abbas and Olmert will talk in the coming days about how they will work out arrangements for the negotiations, which Abbas suspended early this week in the wake of the Israeli military offensive in Gaza that killed some 117 Palestinians.