Israelis, Palestinians in direct talks next week

Direct Palestinian-Israeli peace talks will be resumed next week after years of stalemate, Israeli radio reported on Monday. The radio added that Justice Minister Tzipi Livni will lead the Israeli delegation and Palestinian Liberation Organization Executive Committee member Saeb Erekat will head the Palestinian negotiating team. The peace talks will be held under US Administration sponsorship. The radio noted that the Israeli-Palestinian understandings which led to the resumption of talks did not include Israel's acceptance of 1967 borders or freezing settlement activities. The Israeli NGO Peace Now unveiled Monday that the current government has approved the building of 5,000 housing units at least in the Occupied West Bank settlements. "The new government speaks about two states, meanwhile on the ground, they are doing exactly the opposite," the NGO said in a statement. Meanwhile, Israel said it is planning to free some 82 of the 103 Palestinians sentenced to prison terms in Israel before the Oslo Accords were first signed in 1993.