Arab envoys convene in Libya

Ma'an
Arab ministers of foreign affairs met in Sirt, Libya on Thursday ahead of the 22nd Arab League summit that has been closely followed over expectations it will address inter-Palestinian disunity.

The summit, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday..........

.......The initiative, launched in Beirut in 2002, proposes to normalize relations with Israel, within the context of establishing a sovereign Palestinian state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The decision to discuss the initiative's revocation follows a string of announcements by the Israeli government to continue settlement building and expansion in occupied East Jerusalem, including an Israeli-only unit in the flashpoint Palestinian neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Tuesday that he will participate in the Arab League summit amid what he called a crisis of confidence surrounding Israel’s plans to build new settlements in East Jerusalem, the UN reported.

"I say again, here, what I have been repeatedly saying: that settlements are illegal under international law. This must stop," Ban told journalists in New York following Israel's announcement it would continue to build in Sheikh Jarrah....

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Tommy Vietor said the US administration believes Israel's continued building in Jerusalem is destructive to the peace process, The Associated Press reported.

President Mahmoud Abbas' spokesman said Tuesday that there will be no peace or stability without a Palestinian Jerusalem, reiterating the PA's stance that the body will not enter into talks with Israel until settlement construction is brought to an end in the city.   Full story