In Yemen, Burns "will consult with government officials and political party leaders on ways to enhance regional security and promote development," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley told reporters.

Crowley said he believed that Burns had already arrived in Yemen, the poorest country in the Arab world which is suffering from a water shortage and crumbling economy.

Yemen's foreign minister Abu Bakr al-Kurbi acknowledged the United States has launched attacks on Al-Qaeda in his country, in an interview published last week, the first confirmation from Sanaa of a US military role.

The United States has become increasingly concerned about the threat posed by Islamist militancy in Yemen, the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, particularly the activities of his jihadist network's local franchise, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.

In Iraq, Burns "will continue to encourage the political factions in Iraq to form an inclusive and representative government, as well as review progress on the transition to a civilian-led partnership in Iraq," Crowley said.

Iraq has been struggling to agree on the formation of a government, seven months after the March 7 elections.

"In Jordan, he will discuss a range of regional and bilateral issues, including Middle East peace, with Jordan's King Abdullah," he said, adding he will return to Washington on Friday.

Play a key Arab mediating role in the peace process, Abdullah attended the launch in Washington last month of the first direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks in 20 months.

earlier related report
Clinton, Netanyahu speak amid efforts to save peace process
Washington (AFP) Oct 4, 2010 - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton spoke at the weekend with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, her spokesman said Monday, amid US efforts to save new Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.

"I can only say that they ... discussed ideas on a path forward. Beyond that, I'm not going to get into specifics," Crowley said of the telephone conversation that took place on Sunday.

"It was a constructive conversation," he told reporters.

Crowley said US Middle East envoy George Mitchell had returned to Washington following his nearly week-long tour of the Middle East that took him to Israel, the West Bank, Qatar, Egypt and Jordan.

The US-backed negotiations began in Washington on September 2, but have been on the brink of collapse since Israel refused to extend a 10-month moratorium on new settler homes in the West Bank that expired a week ago.

The Palestine Liberation Organisation on Saturday urged Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas to withdraw from the talks over the Israeli settlement construction, his spokesman said in Ramallah.

Seeking to break the deadlock, Mitchell met Netanyahu in Jerusalem and Abbas in Ramallah on Friday, before traveling to Doha, Cairo and Amman.

"As George said in one of his statements over the weekend, we're committed to the two-state outcome and establishment of a Palestinian state, and we continue to encourage the parties and consult with the parties on a path forward," Crowley said.

"We recognize that this is difficult, that we're facing an obstacle that immediately confronts us," he said.

"We know there will be others as we move through this. But ... we'll maintain our intensive dialogue... with the parties in the coming days," he said.

earlier related report
West Bank mosque torched in attack blamed on settlers
Beit Fajjar, (AFP) Oct 4, 2010 - Vandals spray-painted and torched a mosque in the southern West Bank early on Monday in an attack Palestinian witnesses and officials blamed on Israeli settlers.

The attack came at a tense time, with direct peace talks on hold over the resumption of Israeli settlement construction in the occupied territory, and was condemned by both Israel and the United Nations.

Palestinian witnesses said six armed men in a white car drove into Beit Fajjar village near Bethlehem at 3:00 am (0100 GMT) and spray-painted Hebrew insults on the walls before setting the building alight.

Some of the group were wearing Jewish skullcaps and at least one wore a mask, they said, adding that the men appeared to be settlers.

Several Korans and prayer rugs were incinerated in the attack, according to Ali Sawabta of the local municipality.

The Israeli military described the attack as a "grave and serious incident" and said it had launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. Israeli police were also investigating the incident.

Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak also condemned the attack, saying: "Whoever did this is a terrorist in every sense of the word, and intended to hurt the chances for peace and dialogue with the Palestinians.

"This was a shameful act that besmirched the state of Israel and its values," he added in a statement issued by his office.

A spokesman for the UN envoy to the peace process said the attack was "shocking and completely unacceptable," and called on Israel to find the perpetrators and hold them to account.

The Islamist Hamas movement ruling Gaza, meanwhile, condemned what it called "the Zionist desecration of houses of God" and blamed the attack on increased security coordination between Israel and its rivals in the Western-backed Palestinian Authority.

Israeli police detained several settlers after a West Bank mosque was torched and vandalised in December 2009, and firefighters said another mosque fire in May this year was probably arson.

Hardline settlers have adopted what they call a "price tag" policy under which they attack Palestinians, their fields or villages, whenever the Israeli government takes measures to curb settlement construction.

They have also retaliated after deadly attacks by Palestinian militants, such as the one in late August when Hamas gunmen shot dead four settlers, including a pregnant woman, on a West Bank road.

The dispute over Jewish settlements has been at the heart of US-led shuttle diplomacy aimed at rescuing Israel-Palestinian peace talks after a ban on building new settler homes in the West Bank expired on September 26.

The Palestinians view the presence of some 500,000 Israelis in scores of settlements across the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem as a major impediment to the establishment of their promised state.

The international community views all the settlements as illegal, and the dispute has been one of the thorniest issues in past peace talks.

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