Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas confirmed he held four secret meetings with Zionist President Shimon Peres in an attempt to resume stalled “peace” talks.

Palestinian Authority Chief Mahmoud Abbas confirmed he held four secret meetings with Zionist President Shimon Peres in an attempt to resume stalled “peace” talks.

A Palestinian official quoted on Saturday Abbas as saying at a meeting of his Fatah party: “I met Shimon Peres four times in Amman and London in an attempt to restart negotiations and the peace process on a correct foundation".
 The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the party meeting took place on Friday.

"Shimon Peres assured me that the negotiations between us could lead to results that could be adopted by the Netanyahu government," the official quoted Abbas as saying.
However he said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had thwarted those “efforts”.

"After the first four meetings, a fifth was scheduled in Amman, but Shimon Peres apologized and said, 'I'm sorry but the government does not accept that we negotiate and I cannot do anything,'" Abbas said according to the official.

Israeli media reported in early August the cancellation of a planned secret meeting in Amman between Abbas and Peres after Netanyahu's refusal to give the president a clear mandate for negotiations.