U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah Thursday to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
The meeting is part of intensive discussions between Palestinian, Israeli and U.S. officials in the past two days in the region.
An official from President Abbas' office, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that Abbas and Clinton will dedicate their talks to pushing forward the U.S.-brokered peace negotiations earlier this month.
Clinton sponsored two meetings between Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el Sheikh and Jerusalem amid differences between the two sides over a partial moratorium on building Jewish settlements.
The moratorium expires on Sept. 26 and Abbas promised to walk away from talks if Israel doesn't extend the freeze.
The official said that neither Abbas nor Clinton would talk to the press before the U.S. foreign policy representative leaves for Jordan to see King Abdullah II.
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