Ashton to Call Abbas, Netanyahu in Peace Talks Bid
إقرأ هذا الخبر بالعربية
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said she will call Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later Monday to try to set a date for a restart of stalled peace talks.
Speaking at the close of talks between European Union foreign ministers, Ashton said she would call "to invite them to meet in the coming days."
Ashton spoke a day after chairing a meeting in Brussels of envoys of the so-called Quartet of Middle East peace-brokers -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States.
On Sunday she issued a statement saying "we discussed what to do next to encourage our Israeli and Palestinian partners to resume substantive negotiations as soon as possible."
The Quartet tried unsuccessfully to kick start talks between the two sides at a meeting in New York in September.
During talks on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 23, the Quartet powers called for the Palestinians and Israel to resume direct peace talks within a month and commit to seeking a deal by the end of 2012.
Israel subsequently called for an immediate return to peace talks under the framework of the Quartet proposal -- a statement welcomed by the United States.
But the Jewish state said the plan included no preconditions -- an interpretation the Palestinians quickly rejected.
The Palestinians are demanding Israel halt settlements on land where they want to build a future state.
Asked at a Luxembourg news conference whether the Quartet had come up with any fresh ideas to bring the two sides to the negotiating table, Ashton said "There is no new magic formula".
The issues were known, she added, but "the question is the political will to address them."
"The politics suggest the timing should be now."
11 October 2011, 01:35
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Look at these blood thirsty western hypocrites. Instead of economic sanctions on the colonial racist state, they want the Palestinians to talk while they increase colonial settlements. If Abbas has any dignity he would have told them to go to hell, but he is a paid collaborator of the bloody west.
11 October 2011, 11:22
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John from Khoura: Blood thirsty? Colonial ? what a crap. the Jewish nation existed and lived in the land of Israel thousands of years before the vagabond tribes invaded Israel or so called Palestine
How many Palestinians existed in 19th century we all know from the book of Mark Twain. the mass immigration to Palestine was made by Ottoman empire who brought Arabs for work and others immigrated to Palestine after the mass Jewish immigration from Germany in late 20's and early 30's reach people who invested in industry and real estate followed by Arabs who were looking for work.
Each stone you lift is with Hebrew letter. and it wouldn't help the Muslims to destroy the Hebrew history by smashing the ancient stones below the Mosques on temple mountain.
Since 1948 till 1967 the Jordanian controlled west bank including East Jerusalem and Egyptian controlled Gaza, never heard claim for independence.
About blood thirsty Israelis: Arabs killing each other with greater success, continue you job.
11 October 2011, 15:47
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Even the war criminal Dayan admitted that every village and town the Zionist settlers invaded was built and populated by Arabs. The White racist South Africans told the same lies about Bantus coming to South Africa when the white man arrived. You live on stolen land and like South Africa ...your years are numbered (South Africa also had Nukes).
