Egypt's foreign minister on Thursday said there has been no breakthrough in restarting Israeli-Palestinian talks. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit met Thursday with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank. He said Egypt supports the Palestinian position not to resume talks until settlement construction activities are stopped.
Meanwhile, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad told the Italian newspaper Corriere Della Sera that a Palestinian state would be established by the summer of 2011, terming it the deadline for "the birth" of his nation and the end to the Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Fayyad added he was ready to give Israel one more year to dismantle West Bank settlements.
