UNITED NATIONS, March 20 (UPI) -- A spokeswoman for U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he has consulted with his key international partners in efforts to broker a Middle East peace.
Michele Montas said Monday Ban discussed a joint approach to the new Palestinian unity government between the Fatah and Hamas movements.
Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier of Germany, current president of the European Union, High Representative for European Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and European Commissioner for External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice took part in the Quartet consultations. It comes just a few days before Ban's own visit to the region.
Since Hamas won elections early last year and formed a government, Israel stopped handing over tax and customs revenues it collects on behalf of the Palestinian Authority and international donors suspended direct aid, calling on Hamas, which rejects Israel's right to exist, to commit to non-violence, recognize Israel and accept previously signed agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
The Quartet, which champions the road map peace plan of a two-state solution to the conflict, has reiterated these three principles several times since Palestinians reached an agreement in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, last month to form a unity government of both Hamas and Fatah, which led the government when previous accords with Israel were signed.
On his trip to the region beginning later this week, Mr. Ban will visit Egypt, the Occupied Palestinian territory, Israel and Jordan, and attend the Arab League Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on March 28, before going on to Lebanon. He returns to U.N. World Headquarters in New York April 2.
