Clinton meets Abbas before talks with Israel

US secretary of state, Palestinian president meet in Paris ahead of planned Middle East visit; discuss regional developments, peace process

Reuters | Published: 07.06.12, 22:41

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Friday that the Palestinian-Israeli conflict should not be forgotten amid wider upheaval in the Middle East.

Washington has made no visible progress toward its goal of reaching an outline peace deal by the end of this year and both sides appear unlikely to make any significant steps toward peace ahead of the US elections in November.

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Clinton met Abbas after attending an international meeting on Syria, where forces loyal to President Bashar Assad have sought for more than a year to crush a rebellion against his family's four-decade rule.

The Syrian conflict is the bloodiest of the Arab Spring uprisings that have toppled authoritarian rulers in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Yemen.

"In a time of upheaval across the region, we cannot lose sight of the critical importance of resolving this issue," Clinton told reporters.

Clinton is due to travel to Israel later this month.

'Assad must go'

Also on Friday, the "Friends of Syria" conference in Paris concluded with unanimous agreement that Assad "must go."

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told reporters that representatives from over 100 countries and members of the Syrian opposition agreed that "Bashar Assad must go, and the sooner the better."

The United States, France, and Britain called for tougher sanctions against Damascus and slammed Russia and China for hampering efforts to end the conflict.

Russia and China boycotted the meeting.

British Secretary William Hague said countries that do not impose sanctions on Assad's government are effectively allowing killings to continue.

"It is no longer debatable that this crisis has become a threat to international peace and security," Hollande said. "So we must now draw the conclusions. Bashar Assad must go. A government of transition must be formed. This is in everyone's interests."