US - Middle East

Mitchell said President Barack Obama regarded establishing a sovereign, independent Palestinian state as being in the "national interest" of the US. He also warned that peace talks would not move forward unless Israel's new government cooperated in efforts to forge a two-state solution.

"A two-state solution is the only solution," Mitchell said after his talks with the Palestinian president.

"This conflict has gone on for far too long. The people of this region should no longer have to wait for the just peace," he told reporters, as he wrapped up his first visit to the region since the new Israeli government of hardline conservative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was sworn in.

So far that government has refused to openly endorse a two-state solution."Until the Netanyahu government unequivocally affirms its support for the two-state solution, implements Israel's "road map" obligations and abides by previous agreements, Palestinians have no partner for peace," top negotiator Saeb Erakat said after Mitchell's meeting in Ramallah.

Erekat, a top aide to Abbas, also said the peace process was impossible unless Israel stopped all settlement construction in the occupied West Bank and house demolitions in East Jerusalem.

After the talks between Abbas and Mitchell, Erekat told reporters that Abbas emphasized the Palestinian commitment to both the 2003 road map peace plan and the Annapolis process.

The Netanyahu government has said it is bound only by the road map, but not by the Annapolis process of November 2007. The Annapolis process launched by the previous administration of George W. Bush calls for immediate negotiations on all of the core issues of the conflict and set a one-year deadline for signing a final peace deal.