Israeli and Palestinian negotiators met on Saturday for a fourth round of discussions sponsored by Jordan and the peacemaking Quartet, which are intended to find a way to bring both sides back to direct negotiations.
But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the meeting produced nothing new.
He said the Palestinians used it to demand the release of imprisoned Palestinian officials, including Palestinian parliamentary speaker Aziz Dweik, a Hamas member who was arrested by Israeli forces on Thursday.
"Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat gave a letter to the head of the Israeli delegation Yitzhak Molcho calling on the Israeli government to immediately release Dweik and more than 23 other Palestinian lawmakers," the official said.
The Palestinian delegation accused Israel of arresting Dweik to strike "a blow to internal Palestinian reconciliation" between Hamas and the rival Fatah movement.
The letter handed over Saturday also called for the release of Palestinian leader Marwan Barghuti and Ahmed Saadat, the secretary general of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the official said.
A copy of the letter, which also sought the release of prisoners detained before the 1994 Oslo peace deal, had been sent to the members of the Quartet -- the United States, United Nations, European Union and Russia.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor declined to comment on the meeting.
AFP
Editor: Jafar M Sidik
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