The Palestinians expressed full backing today for US efforts to salvage crisis-hit peace talks, despite a controversial move to seek international recognition after Israel stalled a release of prisoners.
The three negotiating teams were to meet in the region late in the day to discuss a way out of the deadlock, a source close to the talks said.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry scrambled to save his faltering Middle East peace efforts hours after the Palestinians publicly reneged on a commitment to freeze moves to join 15 international treatises.
The announcement by president Mahmud Abbas was a blow to Kerry's frenetic efforts to resolve a dispute over Palestinian prisoners and find a way to extend the fragile talks with Israel beyond an April 29 deadline.
What triggered the crisis was Israel's refusal to release 26 Palestinian prisoners by a weekend deadline, prompting a Palestinian move to sign 15 international treatises as a way of unilaterally furthering their claim for statehood.
Shortly afterwards, Kerry said he was cancelling an imminent a trip to the West Bank town of Ramallah.
Despite the move, a senior Palestinian official insisted Ramallah was committed to the US peace efforts and hoped Kerry's efforts would be renewed "in the coming days".
"Kerry knows the reality. We don't want these efforts to finish," said Yasser Abed Rabbo, secretary general of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's executive committee.
"The Palestinian leadership... Wants the political process to continue. But we want a real political process, without tricks," he told reporters in Ramallah.
Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki echoed the support for talks, but said the membership request for the international conventions had been submitted.
A senior State Department official told AFP that both sides had "taken unhelpful steps over the last 24 hours," but added neither the Palestinians nor the Israelis wanted to end the negotiations.
"After... Weathering previous moments of tension and public flare-ups, we've learned it's short-sighted and premature to make an immediate determination on what will be possible," the official said.
"Ultimately it is up to the parties to take the necessary steps if they really want to go forward. We can't make the decisions for them."
Abbas's announcement came soon after Kerry had wrapped up a 15-hour visit to Jerusalem during which he met twice with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
