Abbas welcomes Obama call to renew peace talks

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcomed on Thursday U.S. President Barak Obama's efforts to renew talks with Israel that collapsed last year, a senior Palestinian official said.

"President Abbas expresses his appreciation of the continuous efforts exerted by President Obama with the objective of resuming the permanent status talks in the hope of reaching a final status agreement," said the official, Saeb Erekat.

Erekat, responding to Obama's Middle East policy address, added that Abbas would soon convene "emergency" talks with Palestinian and Arab officials to consider further steps.