Abbas to meet Sarkozy as settlement moratorium expires

PARIS - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is to meet French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris for talks Monday, with the future of the Middle East peace talks in doubt.

Abbas has not yet made public his decision on whether to walk out on the talks because the 10-month freeze on Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank officially ended midnight Sunday (2200 GMT) and was not extended.

He has also not yet officially replied to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to continue the talks. Abbas had vowed to quit the peace negotiations if Israeli settlement construction resumed after the end of the moratorium.

Abbas arrived in the French capital Sunday and met with some prominent members of the city’s Jewish community.

Following that meeting, he told journalists that the peace talks would be “a waste of time” if Israel did not extend the freeze on settlement construction.