Palestine and Egypt say Mideast focused on talks

PALESTINIAN President Mahmoud Abbas said on Thursday he was still focused on a return to direct peace talks with Israel but looking at alternatives. Abbas, speaking alongside Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, repeated his demand for a halt to Jewish settlement building on occupied land before any return to peace talks. Abbas said his first choice was a return to those negotiations, which Washington hopes can resolve major issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within a year with the goal of establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza.