Merkel calls for total settlement freeze

BERLIN, Aug. 27 (UPI) -- A halt to West Bank settlement construction is crucial to achieve a Middle East peace, German Chancellor Angela Merkel told a Berlin press conference.

"It is of supreme importance that obstacle is lifted in order to advance forward," Merkel said Thursday at a joint appearance with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, the Israeli newspaper Maariv reported.

"It is the only way towards attaining a two-state solution," Merkel said.

Netanyahu denied reports he had agreed to a temporary halt on settlement construction at a Wednesday meeting with George Mitchell, the U.S. envoy to the Middle East, Haaretz reported. Netanyahu called the reports baseless, but said there were attempts to narrow differences, Haaretz said.

Netanyahu and Merkel also discussed the Iranian nuclear issue as well as Germany's mediation efforts to free kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, Israeli media said.

Referring to the Iranian nuclear threat, Merkel said Iran should accept the U.S. request for dialogue, adding a failure to do so will lead to harsher sanctions being imposed on the Islamic Republic, Maariv said.