Adams calls for Middle East talks

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Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams has held a news conference in Jerusalem in Israel, at the start of a two-day "peace mission" in the region.

The Israeli government is refusing to meet Mr Adams because he is scheduled to meet members of Hamas.

Mr Adams said the aim of his visit was "to encourage the search for a peaceful resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".

He said he had been invited by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

"In our view it is imperative that genuine negotiation and dialogue between the representatives of the Palestinian and Israeli people commences as quickly as possible," Mr Adams said.

"Sinn Fein has no special magic formula to resolve the problems here. But we do believe they can be resolved.

"The Anglo-Irish conflict was once labelled as intractable. Talk of peace and of peace processes was dismissed as nonsense, as fantasy. But we proved the pessimists and cynics wrong."

The West Belfast MP said that Israelis and Palestinians had more to gain from peace than continuing conflict.

On Monday, the Israeli government said it would not meet Mr Adams because he is to speak to Hamas, viewed by them as a terrorist group.

Hamas, which forms the current Palestinian administration, is banned by the EU and US.

Earlier this year, the US and EU froze aid to the Palestinian Authority because Hamas has refused to renounce violence and recognise Israel.

Israel has been conducting military operations in the coastal Gaza Strip since Palestinian militants captured an Israeli soldier in June.