Spain proposes adding Arab participation to Mideast Quartet |
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Fri, 12 Jan 2007 17:10
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MADRID (AFX) - Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos proposed Arab participation in the Middle East 'Quartet' comprising the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and Russia, in order to advance the peace process.'The moment has come to open up (the Quartet) to the Arab world,' Moratinos told an international meeting in Madrid to mark 15 years since the Madrid Conference which preceded the 1993 Oslo Accords.Moratinos and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana both expressed the hope that concrete progress could be made in the coming six months to unblock the stalled peace process as Spain lobbies hard to host a new full-blown conference.Solana said he saw the current situation as resembling a 'train of peace negotiations (which) has never left the station.''It is impossible to continue' in the current vein, Solana added, as he and Moratinos noted, along with meeting chairman and former Spanish prime minister Felipe Gonzalez, that the situation has worsened with the additional regional flashpoint of Iraq.Since 2003, the Quartet has been backing a 'roadmap' for peace which calls for the creation of an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, but the plan has been stalled.newsdesk@afxnews.comafp/twCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2006. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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