Baird presses for Mideast peace talks to resume

Canada's Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird has held a series of meetingsin the West Bank, where he encouragedthe Israeli government and Palestinian leadership to resume peace talks.

"We obviously believe that both Israel and the Palestinian Authority should, without preconditions, go back to the negotiating table," he said duringa media briefing Saturday in Ramallah, where he met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told reporters there is a desire by Canadian and Palestinian officials to "move forward" onbilateral relations, andfor Canada to "continue its commitment to state-building."

Al-MalikicalledCanadian support in previous years "remarkable" and said it has made a "big difference, especially in the justice and security sectors."

The Canadian foreign ministerdid not say if his governmentwould be renewing its $300 million in aid spending for Palestinians, a five-year commitment which officially expired last month. But he saidhe listened to the Palestinian leaders' priorities for the future and looked forward to "continuing constructive engagement" with the region.

"We certainly dont agree on every issue we have some profound differences of opinion on the way forward but not on the need to go forward," Bairdsaid.

Those profounddifferences go back toNovember, when thePalestinians were seeking enhanced recognitionat the UN General Assembly. That's when Baird went to New York to register Canada's "no" vote in balloting thatsaw the UN grantPalestinians non-member observer state status.

Baird's comments on Mideasttalks comes amid arecent flurry of international activity aimed atre-energizing the peace process following U.S. President Barack obama's visit to the Middle East last month.

Baird isscheduled to meet withIsraeli leaders in Jerusalem on Tuesday.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will be in Jerusalem and theWest Bank for an officialvisiton Wednesday and Thursday. It will behisthird visit to Israelsince taking over at the State Department.