U.S. envoy expected in Turkey next week, no plans to meet Hamas

"I held a telephone conversation with new U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton yesterday (Saturday) and she told me that she was sending Mitchell to the region and thought it important that he met me," Ali Babacan told reporters in Ankara.

He added he was sure the two sides would find a suitable date next week for Mitchell’s visit.

Babacan was speaking before his departure for Brussels to attend a meeting of foreign ministers from European Union countries, the Palestinian territories, Egypt and Jordan to study ways to get Arab nations behind new Middle East peace moves following the Gaza ceasefire.

Turkey, one of the few Muslim allies of Israel, has been strongly critical of the Jewish states operation in Gaza, where more than 1,300 Palestinians were killed and some 5,300 others wounded.

At the same time, Ankara also took an active role in mediation efforts led by Egypt to convince the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls Gaza, to agree to a ceasefire.

NO PLANS TO MEET HAMAS

U.S President Obama has taken the Middle East by surprise with the speed of his diplomatic activism. Western, Arab and Israeli diplomats said his envoy, plans to meet leaders in Egypt, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Jordan, but they ruled out direct contacts with Hamas Islamists who rule the Gaza Strip, Reuters earlier reported.

A Western diplomat said Mitchell was likely to go to Saudi Arabia but said Syria was not now on his schedule.

The trip is expected to last roughly a week and will likely include a stop in Saudi Arabia but not Syria, Reuters quoted one diplomat as saying.

Israel's refusal to fully lift its blockade of the coastal enclave following its devastating 22-day offensive, which killed more than 1,300 Palestinians, has thrown into doubt the future of the ceasefire and post-war reconstruction.

A Palestinian official, who is close to the truce talks taking place in Cairo, said both Israel and Hamas would hold their fire as long as Egyptian mediation continued.

But little tangible progress has been made thus far into turning the fragile ceasefire into something more lasting, and diplomats said time was running out. A February 10 Israeli election appears likely to bring to power the right-wing Likud party, which is critical of U.S.-backed peace moves.

Israel is determined to deny Hamas any political gains from the conflict and believes its restrictions at the border crossings will give it leverage in talks to free Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier captured by Gaza militants in a 2006 raid.

Hamas, meanwhile, has cemented its hold on the Gaza Strip and its 1.5 million residents, casting doubt on assertions by Israeli leaders that the group has been severely weakened during the 22-day offensive.