Britain backs call for Israeli settlement freeze

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"A freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank could help restart the peace process in the region, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Thursday.

"The deadlock has to be broken in some way," Brown told a committee of British lawmakers.

"I feel that if the Israelis were prepared to freeze settlement construction, there would be a response in the Arab world. And I think that is a way that you can see that movement forward could happen."

U.S. President Barack Obama wants a complete halt to settlement construction, a demand that has caused the most serious rift in U.S.-Israeli relations for a decade.

"All of us are putting pressure (on Israel), recognizing of course that Israel must have guarantees about its security, recognizing that a Palestinian state cannot be viable unless it is economically viable," Brown said."

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