No progress in Mitchell Mideast talks

JERUSALEM, Oct. 11 (UPI) -- Talks Sunday between a top U.S. Middle East envoy and Israel's prime minister yielded no sign of a breakthrough on Israeli-Palestinian issues, officials said.

George Mitchell and Binyamin Netanyahu met Sunday for the second time in three days, with Israeli diplomats downplaying prospects for the resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, The Jerusalem Post reported.

Mitchell also met with Netanyahu Friday before flying to Cairo for talks with Egyptian Intelligence Chief Omar Suleiman and Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit.

"It has been and remains an important objective of American policy and of President (Barack) Obama and the secretary of state personally to achieve comprehensive peace in the Middle East," Mitchell told a news conference Saturday in Cairo.

Israeli and U.S. officials provided no other details of Mitchell's two meetings with Netanyahu.