Quartet demands new PA gov't recognize Israel

The revived Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators - the US, UN, EU and Russia - underscored its demand that any Palestinian government recognize Israel, and vowed to hold another meeting in an Arab country.

The meeting Wednesday of Quartet representatives in Berlin offered no breakthroughs in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to a statement. But officials pointed to their commitment to keep the effort going. "We know that this process of drawing closer together is difficult, and for that reason we want to support it," German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said, stressing the need to seize a "window of opportunity."

The Quartet - which resumed meetings with two gatherings this month, after a period of dormancy - heard US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice report on her meeting earlier this week with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The group's statement said it "reaffirmed its commitment to meet regularly," and said it would hold a future meeting in an unspecified Arab country - an apparent part of the effort to win support for the peace process among moderate Arab states.

Rice reiterated the group's demand that any new Palestinian government agreed between Hamas and Abbas' Fatah movement recognize Israel, which Hamas has refused to do. "How can it be that you have talks about peace when one party will not recognize the other party's right to exist?" Rice said.

The Quartet representatives - also including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana and EU external relations commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner - gathered in search of a way to advance stalled peace efforts amid strong misgivings about the Palestinians' planned unity government.

Rice held a three-way summit on Monday with Olmert and Abbas, which concluded with no new agreements but a pledge to keep talking.

On Tuesday, Israel ruled out any talks on a final peace deal with Abbas if he goes ahead with plans drawn up in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, for his moderate Fatah faction to join Hamas in a new government.

After an earlier meeting with Steinmeier, Ban said "What we need to do is to encourage the parties concerned." "All this process may be very sensitive and may be very difficult," the UN secretary-general told reporters.

"However, at this time, it would be crucially important for (the) international community to encourage this Mecca deal and these ongoing diplomatic initiatives in the Middle East."