The key players trying to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict met Tuesday on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, amid reports that a European Union proposal for establishing a Palestinian state within three years was not acceptable to the United States.
The so-called Quartet — the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations — held closed-door talks and were then scheduled to be joined by the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia for another round of discussions.
According to AP, the United States was represented by Secretary of State Colin Powell, the United Nations by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, Russia by Foreign Minister Ivor Ivanov, and the European Union by its foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, and by Danish Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller, whose country holds the EU presidency.
Powell had separate meetings earlier with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal, and his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres.
An EU official said the United States has reservations about the scope of its plan, which sets out a schedule for statehood over three phases. He said the Americans regard the European blueprint as too detailed, at too early a stage.
A European diplomat with close ties to the Palestinian Authority said Washington felt it had not been sufficiently consulted in the drafting of the plan, which would require large-scale American assistance in its implementation.
Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Sha'ath, who represents the PA in New York, said he has held two days of talks with Arab and European officials, leading up to the Quartet meeting. "Unfortunately, we can't say that the parties agreed on a detailed work plan, as was proposed by the Europeans," he said. (Albawaba.com)
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