UNITED NATIONS, April 2 (UPI) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was encouraged by the very active support and determined will of Arab leaders in the Middle East.
He told reporters in New York after returning from his 11-day Middle East trip that the leaders were set on tackling a variety of problems from the Palestinian issue to the conflicts in Sudan and Somalia.
"I was able to see the Arab leaders engaging on many important regional issues," said the secretary-general, who last week attended the Arab League summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and also visited Iraq, Egypt, Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon.
He noted with the formation of a Palestinian National Unity Government, "the active diplomatic initiatives are on the way -- Arab peace initiatives, Arab leaders who are determined to visit this issue again as a foundation for establishing a good relationship and peace between Israel and Arab countries, and particularly between Israel and the Palestinian authorities."
Ban was asked whether with the formation of the Unity Government by Hamas and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah movement the time was right to lift a donors' embargo imposed after Hamas, which does not recognize Israel's right to exist, formed the government alone last year.
"There was an understanding among the Quartet that we will wait and see how the National Unity Government, particularly Hamas, will perform in terms of all these international expectations," he replied.
The diplomatic Quartet -- the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States -- is seeking a two-state solution, with Israelis and Palestinians living side by side.
"We hope that the National Unity Government will meet the expectations of the international community," the secretary-general said.
