Mahmoud Abbas: Pressing the Flesh for Peace

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Abbas meets the Obama Administration's Middle East special envoy, Senator George Mitchell, in Ramallah in August 2010. President Barack Obama appointed Mitchell on his second day in office, to signal his determination to quickly close a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. But Mitchell's first 18 months on the job has involved endless shuttling between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an attempt to broker a compromise between Abbas' refusal to restart talks until the Israelis heed Obama's demand for a total settlement freeze and Netanyahu's refusal to do so.

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