Abbas meets US envoy, discusses Quartet meeting

President Mahmoud Abbas discussed with US peace envoy David Hale in Ramallah Monday the upcoming Quartet meeting in Jordan in the presence of Palestinian and Israeli negotiators. Abbas told Hale that he was committed to a serious peace process based on clear foundations and total halt to Israeli settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Amman meeting, which will take place on Tuesday, has been called for by Jordan, whose foreign minister will take an active part in the proposed meeting. It will be the first time in 15 months that Palestinian and Israeli negotiators sit down together on the same table even though Palestinian officials have stressed that the meeting does not mean restarting negotiations.