Brussels, 01/07/2002 (Agence Europe) - The "quartet" formed by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations is to meet on Tuesday in London at Middle East envoy level. This first meeting after the speech delivered by President Bush, who suggested a peace plan based on the election of new Palestinian leaders with the replacement of Yasser Arafat, will include a lunch followed by a working meeting and possibly dinner. Participants will include: the EU special envoy to the Middle East, Miguel Angel Moratinos, US Deputy Secretary of State William Burns, the personal envoy of the Russian Foreign Minister, Andreï Vdovine, and the special representative of the UN Secretary General, Terje Roed-Larsen.
In Washington on Friday, State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said that they would be studying the stages for supporting and applying the President's vision, but EU sources suggest that the White House's desire to make the election of new Palestinian leaders a precondition for the setting up of a Palestinian State should not be the central theme of the meeting. The European Union's position, supported by Russia, is very clear in terms of the legitimacy of any leader emerging from free and fair elections. The situation in situ and the co-ordination between members of the Quartet will be discussed at the meeting, particularly security aspects, reform of the Palestinian structures, rebuilding the economy and the relaunch of Israeli-Palestinian political dialogue.