Brussels, 05/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - At its first meeting at foreign minister level since September 2006 (and the first in Washington since 2002) on Friday, the Quartet restated its commitment to dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians, which it hopes will continue “in the framework of a renewed political process with the aim of launching meaningful negotiations”. On 2 February, the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the EU urged both parties to implement fully the steps discussed at the meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on 23 December. Affirming the primacy of the road map, the Quartet welcomed US efforts to accelerate progress and also the forthcoming meeting between Condoleezza Rice and Messrs Olmert and Abbas, which will take place some time in February, and which could “begin to define more clearly the political horizon for the Palestinian people”. The Quartet will meet next in Berlin, German foreign minister Franck-Walter Steinmeier announced. “We will only be credible if the process of cooperation becomes long-term and sustainable,” he said at a press conference on Friday.
The Quartet, deeply concerned by the violence among Palestinians, also called for the Temporary International Mechanism (TIM) to be further developed to support the political process, and to identify suitable projects for international support in the areas of governance, institution building and economic development. Ministers welcomed the international efforts to reform the Palestinian security sector, which would improve law and order for the Palestinian people, and they called on Palestinians to unite behind a government committed to peace, which recognised Israel's right to exist and accepted previous agreements and obligations, including the road map. While the Quartet restated the basic principles for a way out of the conflict, the issue of the resumption of financial aid to the Hamas-led Palestinian government showed some differences of opinion. “I do not think that to solve this problem, or any other problem in the world, we can use boycotts and isolation,” said Russian minister Sergei Lavrov, who also argued for involving Damascus in the process. “Syria knows what it has to do to be a stabilising force,” responded Ms Rice, and she expressed the hope that “it will try to play a positive role, rather than a negative one”.
The Palestinian issue, and the situation in Iraq, also featured in discussions between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and a number of the region's leaders. Ms Merkel started a tour of the Middle East on Saturday by visiting Egypt, where notably she met President Hosni Mubarak and the Secretary General of the Arab League Amr Mousa, before going on to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, then Abu Dhabi on Monday, before travelling to Kuwait on Tuesday. (ab)