Chief Palestinian peace negotiator backs Kerry's efforts

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – The top Palestinian negotiator with Israel on Monday threw his weight behind U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry’s bid to revive stalled peace talks, while describing the situation in the West Bank as apartheid worse than that suffered in South Africa. Kerry is due to visit Jerusalem and Ramallah on Thursday and Friday. U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel broke down in 2010 in a dispute over continuing Israeli settlement construction in the West Bank. Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat told a U.N. …