The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Ramallah

Palestinian negotiators on their way to a session of talks in Israel on Sunday said they were blocked at an Israeli checkpoint and had called off the discussions, asking that they be moved abroad.

The two sides have been meeting regularly in preparation for a peace conference in the United States later this month. "We cannot carry out negotiations like this," chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qurie said, after Israeli soldiers blocked his team near Jerusalem. Negotiators are struggling to narrow differences over a joint statement to be presented at the conference, due to take place in Annapolis, Maryland, in late November.

An aide to Qurie said his team told Israel they wanted to move the preparatory talks to another country but gave no details. "It shouldn't have happened t that's not good for peace," said Mark Regev, spokesman for Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, who leads the Israeli negotiating team.