Kerry, Abbas continue talks Thursday in Paris

US Secretary-of-State John Kerry and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were continuing crucial talks here Thursday in a secluded Paris hotel, away from media and other outside interference.The two men already met over dinner on Wednesday to discuss what diplomats say was Kerry's blueprint to end months of stalling and recriminations in Middle East negotiations that Kerry was responsible for reconvening last summer after a bad-tempered hiatus of over three years.Several issues remain to be resolved and are being addressed with the Palestinians before Kerry meets Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in Washington early next month. Remaining hurdles include Palestinian rights in East Jerusalem, which is slated to be the capital of a future Palestinian state. Also, borders based on the 1967 line, security, land swaps and settlements, refugee return rights and Jordan Valley security deployments all remain to be resolved.At the same time, Israel has continued to expand illegal settlements, infuriating the Palestinian side and adding over 10,000 housing units to existing settlements since talks resume and in settlements that should, in principle, be taken down in a future agreement. But some of these settlements, diplomats said here, may be left in place to avoid domestic pressure on Netanyahu, who will cede land to the Palestinian State as way of compensation.Palestinian negotiators said this week that they really don't understand how they are being asked to compromise on all issues, leaving them nothing to negotiate, while Israel makes no concessions.Kerry's job here is to see just how far that Palestinian compromise can go before he meets with the Israeli leader.One diplomat said here Thursday that one should "not expect too much from the meetings" as there was still a ways to go until the April deadline for a settlement, which will in any event be formally announced by President Barack Obama and signed on the White House Lawn, assuming Kerry's plans are accepted.