Mideast Quartet calls for continued peace negotiations
Published: Monday, November 10, 2008
2:16GMT—9:16PM/EST
QUARTET – MIDDLE EAST – PEACE
Washington, 9 November (IranVNC)—Representatives of the Middle East Quartet – the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia – today called for continued peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority [PNA], after the White House conceded earlier this week that US-sponsored peace efforts were unlikely to result in a final settlement before the end of the year.
"The Quartet emphasized the importance of continuity of the peace process," Reuters quoted United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon as saying after Quartet representatives met with PNA President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, in the Egyptian sea resort of Sharm al-Sheikh.
Abbas and Livni briefed Quartet representatives on the progress of negotiations since US President George W. Bush convened a conference in Annapolis, Maryland, last November to push for a negotiated settlement that envisions a two-state solution to the conflict.
Calling the negotiations “substantial and promising” the two officials stressed “the need for continuous, uninterrupted, direct, bilateral negotiations” while acknowledging “the gaps and obstacles that remain,” a Quartet statement said.
Peace negotiations have been hampered by political uncertainties in Israel, and factional disputes among Palestinian political groups.
Major issues, including the question of Palestinian refugees, the status of Jerusalem and Jewish settlements as well as the borders of a future Palestinian state, also remain unresolved.
Israeli and Palestinian officials today called for continued international support of the peace process, stressing in particular the need for Palestinian institution-building and greater efforts to “confront and deny support for extremism, incitement, terrorism, and intolerance.”
But they added that without the joint request of the parties, third parties should not intervene in the bilateral negotiations.
For its part, the Quartet “reiterated its commitment” to ongoing bilateral negotiations and called for continued support of Palestinian economic and institutional development.
It cited the deployment of PNA security Personnel in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Hebron, a US-backed effort following the Annapolis conference, as “an example of the success of reforms instituted by the Palestinian government” and Israeli-Palestinian cooperation.
Wrapping up a four-day trip to the region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told reporters at Sharm al-Sheikh: “What we heard today from the parties, which is the most important element of this, is that they believe in the Annapolis process," Rice told reporters.”
In the West Bank on Friday, Rice acknowledged that the pace of negotiations faced obstacles but said she believed the US-backed peace effort should lay the ground work for an eventual agreement.
In their statement today, the members of the Quartet agreed to meet in Moscow next spring for an international conference on the peace process.
Sources: Middle East Quartet statement, Reuters
© IranVNC 2008. All rights reserved.