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US answers not yet enough for Mideast talks: Palestinian president

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, facing US and Israeli calls for an immediate resumption of peace talks, had asked the United States to clarify its proposal for indirect negotiations.

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A Palestinian official said on Monday the United States had yet to give adequate answers to Palestinian queries on a proposal for indirect negotiations with Israel.                                           

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, facing US and Israeli calls for an immediate resumption of peace talks, had asked the United States to clarify its proposal for indirect negotiations.

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton said last week she hoped talks would start "shortly".                                           

But Mohammed Dahlan, senior official in Abbas's Fatah party, said the US clarifications received so far were not enough.        

"I can say that up until now, the American responses to the Palestinian questions have not been enough," he said.          

Abbas has demanded a full halt to Israeli settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967, before any resumption of negotiations.                          

Israel rejected his call, instead imposing a limited, temporary "freeze" on settlement expansion in the West Bank, but excluding East Jerusalem, which Israel considers part of what it calls its indivisible capital.                                           

Palestinian officials have said the latest US efforts to revive the peace process have been damaged by recent Israeli moves including a decision to include West Bank religious sites in a Jewish heritage plan.                                           

Palestinians see the plan, announced last week, as a move to strengthen Israeli control over land where they hope to found their state. Israel says the aim is to preserve the sites, not to impinge on Muslim worship.                                           

The Ramallah-based Palestinian cabinet convened in the city of Hebron on Monday in protest against the plan.

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