'Important period ahead.' Serry with Livni
Photo: AP
UN envoy says Mideast peace efforts at crossroads
'There are some positive developments in Israeli-Palestinian talks, but there are also several factors that cause concern,' Robert Serry tells Security Council. On Livni's election as Kadima head: We look to an urgent continuation of the negotiations
Peace talks by Israel and the Palestinians are at a crossroads 10 months after their leaders agreed to try to reach an accord this year and both sides need to step up their efforts to meet that goal, the United Nations' Mideast envoy said Thursday.
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"While there are some positive developments, there are also several factors that cause concern," Robert Serry told the UN Security Council. "The important period ahead must see decisive advances towards peace."
Despite continuing negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, he said, "it appears so far that no agreement has been reached on the core issues."
"However, it also appears that there have been substantive discussions, the potential of which must be built on with a continuation of intensive negotiations," Serry added.
He addressed the council a day after Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni was elected as the new leader of the governing Kadima Party, replacing corruption-tainted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
'Agreement on all core issues'
Livni, a soft-spoken diplomat who has played a central role in peace talks with the Palestinians and prefers negotiation to confrontation, said she intends to form a new government.
"We look to an urgent continuation of the negotiations, and for all parties to honor their Annapolis and road map commitments," Serry said.
A US-hosted conference in Annapolis, Md., last November drew 44 nations, including Israel's neighboring Arab states, whose support is considered vital to any peace agreement. Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas agreed then to try for a deal by the end of 2008.
The "road map" for peace efforts was drafted by the Quartet of Mideast mediators _ the US, European Union, Russia and UN ministers from the Quartet are scheduled to meet Sept. 26 on the sidelines of the annual high-level session of the UN General Assembly.
At the Quartet meeting, Serry said, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon hopes to move Israeli-Palestinian negotiations forward as well as to push reconciliation among the rival Palestinian factions _ the Fatah movement, which controls the West Bank, and Hamas, which controls Gaza.
"Ten months after negotiations were relaunched at Annapolis, and with just over three months until the end of the year, the Middle East peace process stands at a crossroads," Serry said. "We must continue to strive for agreement on all core issues in accordance with the agreed timeframe of Annapolis."
