Kerry to travel to Israel and meet Israeli PM Netanyahu

Reuters
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry delivers his opening remarks to the media before a meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to discuss the ongoing crisis in Syria, September 12, 2013. REUTERS/Larry Downing

GENEVA (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Jerusalem on Sunday for discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Middle East peace talks as well as on Syria, the State Department announced on Friday. "The purpose of the visit is to have an in-depth discussion with the prime minister on the final status negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. "They will also focus on developments in Syria." Kerry met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in London on Monday. He is currently in Geneva, holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Syria's chemical weapons programme. The U.S. Secretary of State was also to travel to Paris on Sunday, for meetings on Monday with the foreign ministers of France, the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia, Psaki said. He was due to return to Washington on Monday. (Reporting by Warren Strobel; editing by Andrew Roche)