Mitchell met with Israelis in London: US
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell held talks with Israeli officials in London in a follow-up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House, a US official said.
US Middle East envoy George Mitchell held talks with Israeli officials in London in a follow-up to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to the White House, a US official said.
"Senator Mitchell was in London yesterday. He met with some senior Israeli officials," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly told reporters on Wednesday.
"This is part of our ongoing consultations with the government of Israel, and these meetings were agreed to as a follow-up to Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit earlier," Kelly said.
He did not confirm reports that the talks touched on the perceived threat from Iran or US President Barack Obama's call for a freeze on Israeli settlements when he met with Netanyahu here May 18.
"All I know is that they ... They discussed a full range of issues," Kelly said, adding Mitchell was due back in Washington yesterday.
In Jerusalem, officials on Tuesday said that an Israeli government delegation had left for London for discussions with US officials on settlement outposts in the occupied West Bank and Iran's nuclear programme.
The move came after Netanyahu hinted that Israel would have to tear down unauthorised settlements in the West Bank in order to win US backing for its stance on arch-foe Iran.