Palestinian official: Arab League accepts Kerry's peace initiative

Arab League has approved U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry's new initiative to restart the Mideast peace process, a Palestinian official told Xinhua Thursday. The Arab diplomats met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday in Amman, Jordan, and "gave him the green light to go to the negotiations," the official said on the condition of anonymity. Palestinian media reported that Kerry may declare his peace plan to revive the stalled peace talks before he leaves the region on Friday. According to the Palestinian official, Kerry's plan is mainly focused on the border issues and the Israeli commitment to partially freezing its settlement activities in the West Bank. He said the Palestinian official response to Kerry's plan would come out later Thursday after Abbas confers with senior politicians. Abbas demanded Israel to freeze settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, release old Palestinian prisoners and recognize the two-state solution as preconditions to resume peace talks, which came to a halt in 2010 over Israel's continued settlement efforts.