The United States said Wednesday it was eager to get moving with indirect peace talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians after the Arab League lent its support to the effort, dpa reported.
George Mitchell, the US special envoy to the Middle East, would travel to the region in the coming days to continue efforts to relaunch negotiations, the State Department said.
"We want to get this process started," spokesman PJ Crowley said in Washington. "The sooner it starts, the better."
The Arab League earlier Wednesday backed a US proposal to start "proximity talks" between the Israelis and Palestinians as a precursor for direct talks between the two sides, which have been on hold since late 2008.
The US hope is that starting indirect talks will "create some momentum" for a more ambitious process, but Crowley also said it was clear the effort would not yield real results by the Arab League's four-month deadline.
Arab states said they would review the results of the indirect talks after four months, and insisted that direct talks could not begin until Israel completely halted all settlement construction to the east of its 1967 borders.
"I think if we're going to get from where we are to a comprehensive peace agreement, our guess is that it'll probably take more time than that," Crowley said.