Washington, Shawwal 20, 1431, Sept 29, SPA -- The United States said Tuesday that U.S. envoy George Mitchell is scheduled to meet Arab leaders during his regional tour aimed at rescuing new Palestinian-Israeli direct negotiations. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Mitchell will meet Israeli leaders on Wednesday and Palestinian leaders on Thursday before continuing to other Arab capitals. “He will likely remain in the region and have other discussions with regional leaders before he comes back to the United States,” Crowley told reporters without providing details about the meetings. The spokesman said Mitchell “will be consulting broadly in the region” before the Arab League follow-up committee meets in Cairo on October 4, when Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas is scheduled to announce whether or not he will continue direct talks with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. --SPA Mitchell arrived Tuesday in Jerusalem as Abbas said Israel would be to blame if negotiations collapsed over the end of an Israeli freeze on settlement construction in the occupied West Bank. “We understand we’re in an intense period of time where we need to find a way to help both sides resolve the immediate situation and continue negotiations,” Crowley said. “We’re dealing with a fundamental lack of trust that’s been built up over the years.” 11:07 LOCAL TIME 08:07 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/821661