Report: U.S. to set "deadline" for Middle East peace

Mitchell, delivering the keynote address Monday night to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Institute of Peace, said that “no two conflicts are the same.” But he noted that he had “established a deadline” that led to the Good Friday agreement of April 10, 199,8 that ended the bloody, decades-long conflict between Roman Catholics and Protestants in Northern Ireland.

Asked after the speech whether he intended to set a similar deadline for Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Mitchell said that he would do so after indirect talks between the two sides progress to direct negotiations.

“We will [have a deadline] once we do” make that transition, he said. He did not say how much time he would give the parties to agree.