No concessions in Middle East talks

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have failed in talks in Sharm el-Sheikh to resolve disputes over Jewish settlement building, but the one year time-line for a comprehensive peace deal remains, US envoy George Mitchell has said. No news emerged of any compromise on settlements or other issues emerged after talks on Tuesday between Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president, Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state and George Mitchell, the US Middle East peace envoy. Despite the lack of progress on all issues, the talks will continue in Jerusalem on Wednesday. With a 10-month Israeli moratorium on housing starts in settlements in the occupied West Bank due to expire on September 30 and without agreements on core issues including Israel's security, the borders of a future Palestinian state, the future of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees, many analysts do not hold high expectations for future talks. "Because of the lack of optimism, the negotiations are being conducted in secrecy," Al Jazeera's political analyst Marwan Bishara, said. "We don't know what precisely is going on in these two rounds", he said, after Tuesday's meeting. The current series of direct talks between Palestinian and Israeli leaders began in Washington on September 2, after a 20-month hiatus.