'Egypt and Palestinians still insist on settlement freeze'

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met Egyptian counterpart, Hosni Mubarak, in the Egyptian resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh on Monday to discuss Israel's latest offer for the renewal of talks with the Palestinian Authority.

The meeting comes in the wake of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Cairo last week, where he presented some ideas for jump-starting the diplomatic process.

Abbas did not make any comment at a brief news conference about Netanyahu's proposal for an Egyptian-hosted summit with Abbas. The Palestinian President said only that the Palestinian Authority's stance on renewal of talks had not changed, and that he and Mubarak had agreed to keep insisting on a complete settlement freeze.

"Our stance is known from the past and our stance remains the same - and in agreement with our brothers in Egypt - which is that we have no objections to negotiations or meetings in principle and we do not set conditions," Abbas said.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1139830.html