Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Monday there will be no quick decision on whether to pull out of Mideast peace talks now that an Israeli moratorium on West Bank settlement construction has ended.
"We will not have swift reactions now, to say 'yes or 'no - we want, or we don't want'," Abbas told a press conference in Paris, where he met with French President Nicholas Sarkozy.
Abbas said in Paris on Monday that he will consult with the 22-member Arab League next Monday on how to proceed.
"After this chain of meetings, we might publish a position that clears up the position of the Palestinian and Arab people after Israel has refused to freeze settlements," he said.
Abbas has repeatedly said Palestinians would quit newly relaunched peace talks if Israel resumes settlement activity. A 10-month slowdown on construction expired at midnight, and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he will not renew the order.
Monday's comments signaled the Palestinians are giving U.S. mediators more time to reach a compromise.
Sarkozy said on Monday he would ask Abbas, Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to peace talks in Paris before the end of October.
Abbas said the construction of settlements should be frozen for another 3-4 months, a position Sarkozy backed as crucial.
"The settlements must stop," the French president said.
Asked if the call for more talks in Paris complicated peace efforts initiated by Washington, Sarkozy said nothing could be done without U.S. support but that was not enough in itself to secure a lasting solution to the Middle East conflict:
"Nothing will be resolved without strong American backing," he said. "But does the strong commitment that's needed have to be exclusive? That's been the question for 10 years, since Camp David. If such an exclusive commitment was enough, we'd know it."