Mideast peace talks in limbo

A US presidential envoy ended a Middle East mission yesterday with no sign of any imminent resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

George Mitchell met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for a second time after talks on Friday and a visit to Cairo, where the former US senator held discussions with Egypt's intelligence chief and its Foreign Minister.

A statement from Netanyahu's office after his latest meeting with Mitchell said two Israeli negotiators would make another trip to Washington in the coming week to continue talks on moving peace efforts forward.