Obama readies Mideast peace bid

PRESIDENT Barack Obama steps into Middle East peace efforts in a bold bid to relaunch direct Palestinian-Israeli negotiations amid scepticism over his chances of success.

Fresh violence blamed on the Hamas and continued deadlock over Israeli settlements threatened to curtail the latest efforts by Obama, who made Middle East peace a priority early in his presidency.

Israeli forces sealed off parts of the West Bank, Palestinian authorities arrested dozens of suspects, and furious settlers vowed to flout a moratorium on settlement construction after Hamas activists gunned down four Israelis near a Jewish settlement.

Obama, who is hoping to succeed where so many of his predecessors have failed, made his first presidential call to Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and appointed a Middle East envoy, veteran peacemaker George Mitchell, two days after his inauguration.

The attack in the Palestininan West Bank, strongly condemned by Abbas and the White House, was a clear and bloody message from Hamas, a staunch opponent of the talks.

But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to keep the talks on track after a 20-month hiatus while stressing Israel's security demands.

"I will set clearly the security needs that are required precisely to address these kind of terror," Netanyahu said. "We will not let the blood of Israeli civilians go unpunished."

And the host of the talks, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, offered fresh security assurances to the Israelis.

"It is one of the reasons why the prime minister is here today, to engage in direct negotiations with those Palestinians who themselves have rejected a path of violence in favour of a path of peace," she said as she met with Netanyahu late last Tuesday.

"We pledge to do all we can always to protect and defend the state of Israel and to provide security to the Israeli people."

AFP