US Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Ramallah on Saturday and met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.
Palestinian
and Israeli officials have publicly differed on the future status of
the West Bank's border with Jordan, where Israelis want a permanent
security presence but Palestinians want a full withdrawal of Israeli
soldiers and Jewish settlers.
Kerry has said such an accord would
narrow gaps between the sides and pave the way for a final deal when
the nine-month period allotted the US-backed talks expires on April 29.
Turkish border guards seized three vehicles loaded with over 1,000 kg
of chemicals as they tried to illegally cross the border into Syria.
One of the smugglers was arrested, while others managed to escape.
The Turkish General Staff reported that the chemicals were seized
after a convoy of three vehicles refused to stop and attempted to
illegally cross the border near the southeastern Turkish town of
Reyhanli on Saturday.
Paramilitary police were ordered to shoot out the tires of the
vehicles to stop them. As the tires caught on fire, the three
drivers jumped out and fled in the direction of Syria. One of
them was arrested.
The vehicles contained 20 bags of sulphur, weighing about 50 kg
each, and eight sealed barrels. Their contents were not
immediately known.
US Secretary of State met Palestinian leader Abbas reportedly proposing
suspension of Jewish settlement construction in West Bank and East
Jerusalem for 3 months to resume negotiations with Israel.
RAMALLAH
America's
top diplomat John F. Kerry offered a three-month halt to the Jewish
settlement construction in Eastern Jerusalem and the West Bank in a
meeting in Jordan on Wednesday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas
in order to resumePalestinian-Israeli peace negotiations and lasting
solution, al-Fatah sources said.
Kerry reportedly pledged Abbas US guarantee for the implementation of the proposal, sources added.
