United States Special Middle East Envoy George Mitchell, who arrived in Cairo on Saturday night, confirmed that both Israel and the American-backed Palestinian Authority have asked the Americans to continue its efforts to overcome obstacles to further direct negotiations.
"The two parties, Israelis and Palestinians have asked us to continue our discussions with them and with other governments on how best to achieve the objective of the negotiations," Mitchell told the media, after meeting with Arab League Secretary General of Amr Moussa.