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Summary
Senior Palestinian politicians have backed President Mahmud Abbas's demand to link peace talks to restrictions on Israeli settlement building. The announcement came after a meeting of dozens of leaders of the Palestine Liberation Organization and Abbas's Fatah movement. However, a final decision is only expected at an Arab League summit in Libya next weekend. The development delivers a new setback to US efforts to salvage Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is adamant about not extending a moratorium on settlement building, said in a statement earlier in the day that peace can only be achieved in negotiations and urged the Palestinians to continue talks.
