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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Quartet draws up Mideast talks framework |
| 2010-08-13 |
| [Arab News] Major powers are working on a statement to set the basis for direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, the European Union's foreign policy chief told EU foreign ministers on Thursday. High Representative Catherine Ashton said in a letter seen by Reuters the statement would be issued early next week, if both parties agreed to proceed to direct talks, and negotiations launched in August. The EU works with the United States, Russia and the United Nations in a "Quartet" to promote a Middle East peace treaty. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday indicated he could go to direct talks, provided they were based on a March 19 statement by the Quartet. Israeli newspapers said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US envoy George Mitchell on Wednesday he wanted talks to start immediately without any such "precondition". Ashton's letter said "Abbas is very close" to accepting direct talks. "In principle, President Abbas should be in a position to give a definitive answer by Sunday or early next week," it adds. Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev had no direct comment on the Israel press reports, which concluded that Mitchell's mission to get both sides talking directly had failed on Wednesday over the Quartet proposal. "The government of Israel has been calling for the immediate start of direct peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians for more than a year now," Regev told Reuters. A Western diplomat said the Israeli press reports that Netanyahu had rejected this idea "have not changed anything". "This remains the objective. This is what's in the air," he said. Quartet diplomats were working on the language of a statement "inviting the parties to go back to direct negotiations" on the lines of the Quartet's position. Abbas refuses to engage in direct talks unless Netanyahu agrees to a clear agenda. Without one, say the Palestinians, Netanyahu may propose terms for a peace treaty that are completely unacceptable, and leave Abbas looking like a rejectionist when he turns them down. Indirect talks mediated by Mitchell have made no visible progress. Analysts say Abbas' credibility could be destroyed if Netanyahu engaged him in lengthy direct talks while making no concrete moves to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Ashton said the Quartet initiative "should help President Abbas rally enough support, both at home and abroad, to engage in direct talks". The Quartet says Israel should halt settlement building in the West Bank and reach a full peace agreement with the Palestinians within 24 months, creating a state on the basis of the borders that existed before the 1967 Middle East war. Ashton's letter made clear that these terms, contained in the Quartet's statement from Moscow on March 19, would form the basis of its statement "to be issued concurrently with the announcement of the launch of direct talks". It said Mitchell was urging the partners "to stick to a unified line" in order to drive the peace process forward. On Thursday, Abbas and Jordan's King Abdallah separately met Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak to discuss talks strategy. Abbas and Abdullah did not issue statements after the meetings. The two leaders also held talks at Cairo airport before leaving the country, the official MENA news agency said. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Quartet |
| Posted by: Willy 2010-08-13 11:16 |