Quartet backs Mideast peace talks

Although chances of the Israeli-Palestinian peace talks resulting in an agreement by the end of the year, as hoped for during the Annapolis Peace Summit, have proven slim, representatives from both sides arrived in Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt on Sunday to brief the international Quartet on the progress made in the talks.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was the first to meet with the Quartet's UN, American, Russian and European Union delegates. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and head of the Palestinian negotiations team, Ahmed Qureia, soon followed suit. 

The Quartet's delegates released a short statement after the briefings, saying that the Quartet will continue supporting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The sides, said the statement, will resume direct talks free of international intervention, in accordance to guidelines they will devise.

Members of the Quartet stressed that their support of the Palestinian leadership depended on its willingness to accept the Quartet's three prerequisites of recognizing Israel, relinquishing terror and reaffirming previous agreements.

Abbas, Livni in Sharm meeting (Photo: Reuters) 

Implementing the agreement between the two sides, they added, could begin only after all terror infrastructures was destroyed, in accordance to the guidelines set be US President George W. Bush in the Road Map.

Also attending the Sharm el-Sheik meetings are US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and the Russian, Egyptian and French foreign ministers. Livni is expected to engage in a series of diplomatic meetings throughout the day.

'Talks held in serious, intense manner'

Sources in the Foreign Ministry, were pleased with the statement, saying that the Quartet has essentially backed the Israeli stance: "Cementing Israel's long-term interests can only be accomplished by holding a dialogue with our neighbors," said Livni.

"Both sides, more than anyone, understand the urgency of finalizing an agreement. (Both sides) know better than anyone what they can and cannot live with and what the time table should be.

"We recognize the need for a Palestinian state, but not as a terror state," she added. "We've made progress in the negotiations and they are being conducted in a serious, intense manner.

"We support lending the Palestinian leadership, which recognizes Israel and acts against terror, the financial and political assistance it needs; and we demand the international community's support in preventing radicalism and terror," she concluded.

Prior to leaving for Egypt, Livni told Ynet that The Arab peace initiative cannot be an alternative to holding direct talks with the Palestinian Authority and Syria; adding she was not desponded by the talks' progress, a year on of the Annapolis Summit.

'Finish line ahead'

"We've seen some progress in the talks with the Palestinians (since Annapolis), but there are many more issues on the table," the Kadima chairwoman said. "The process will continue, and I prefer to continue negotiating until we reach an agreement that coincides with Israel's security interests."

Livni added that she believes the current process was preferable to "a hasty process which will end in a piece of paper that does not represent anything."

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice expressed the same sentiment on her Friday visit to the West Bank city of Ramallah, saying the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, sponsored by the Bush administration, laid the foundation for an eventual accord.

"We knew ... that if that agreement was not reached by the end of the year, there would be those that would say that the Annapolis process, the negotiations, had failed. In fact, it is quite the opposite," Rice told reporters after her meeting with Abbas.

"While we may not yet be at the finish line, I am quite certain that if Palestinians and Israelis stay on the Annapolis course, they are going to cross that finish line and can do so relatively soon," she added.