Arsonists torch mosque

RAMALLAH, West Bank - Arsonists set a mosque in a West Bank village on fire Monday, scrawling "revenge" on a wall in Hebrew and charring copies of the Muslim holy book in an attack that threatened to stoke tensions over deadlocked Mideast peacemaking.

Palestinians say they suspect hard-line Jewish settlers of setting the fire in the village of Beit Fajjar, near the city of Hebron. The attack likely will hamper U.S. efforts to sustain month-old talks between Israelis and Palestinians, now deadlocked over settlement construction.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other senior Israeli officials condemned the arson attack in an apparent attempt to limit the political fallout.

The settlements, where 300,000 Jews live among 2.5 million Palestinians, are one of the thorniest issues in Israeli-Palestinian relations and the main obstacle at the moment to continuing a round of talks restarted a month ago in Washington.

Palestinian negotiators say they cannot build a state that includes the West Bank while Israel continues to expand Jewish settlements on the land they claim.

Israel last week refused to extend a moratorium on new construction in West Bank settlements, putting peace talks into doubt because Palestinians have threatened to quit if building resumes. Netanyahu is under heavy international pressure to put restrictions back into place.

A senior Israeli official said Netanyahu would convene top Cabinet ministers today to vote to consider U.S. proposals to salvage the talks. The

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