Netanyahu-Mitchell meeting postponed amid settlement row

Jerusalem - A meeting in Paris between President Barack Obama's Middle East special envoy and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been called off amid the ongoing US-Israeli dispute over settlements in the occupied West Bank, officials said Wednesday. An Israeli government official who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the German Press Agency dpa that the meeting, which had been foreseen for Thursday, 'will be held at a later date to allow for proper staff work to be undertaken beforehand.' Defence Minister Ehud Barak is also scheduled to visit Washington on Monday next week for meetings, the official said. The meeting was to have taken place as Netanyahu makes his first visit to Italy and France since he was sworn into office on March 31. Israel Radio, quoted members of Netanyahu's entourage as saying the parley was postponed at the request of the Israeli premier because Israeli and US representatives had still reached no understanding on the settlement issue. Israel is pushing for a compromise under which it would be allowed to continue to build inside existing settlements to accomodate 'natural growth.' But the US has thus far stood firm on its demand for a total freeze of all Israeli construction in the occupied West Bank. According to the radio, the sides have held talks on the issue over the past days. It said Netanyahu decided to send Barak, of the dovish coalition Labour Party, to Washington on Monday in a bid to conclude these talks. Israel Army Radio said the postponement of the meeting was decided on before Netanyahu left for Europe on Tuesday. According to the report, the premier held consultations in which it was decided to wait on the Mitchell meeting until clarifications could be reached on several issues between Jerusalem and Washington. The United States is demanding a total freeze on all Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Netanyahu, responding to the US demand for a total freeze on all settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has said Israel will build no new settlements, and will not expropriate any more West Bank land. He insists, however, on the right to build in existing settlements. 'We will not build new settlements, we will not expropriate land to expand settlements, and we accept the principle that the discussions about the settlements will take place in final-status negotiations,' he said in Rome after meeting Tuesday with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. But, he told the RAI television network, 'pending a final peace agreement, the people who are there (in the settlements) will be allowed to live a normal life. They have children, they need kindergartens, they need health clinics and so on.' The Israeli premier meanwhile ended his Rome visit and headed for Paris Wednesday morning for talks with President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister Francois Fillon and Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner.