Sunday, May 02, 2010
ABU DHABI (AFP)--Emirati President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahayan Sunday urged the international community to help relaunch the Middle East peace process, in a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
"We urge the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and relaunch the peace process, to achieve a just and comprehensive peace in the region," official WAM news quoted Sheikh Khalifa as saying.
Abbas is visiting the United Arab Emirates as part of a tour of Arab countries that will take him Tuesday to Saudi Arabia and Wednesday to Egypt, his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told AFP.
He will inform Saudi King Abdullah and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak "about contacts between the American government and the Palestinian leaders on the subject of indirect negotiations (with Israel) and of proposals we made" to Washington, Abu Rudeina said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to travel Monday to Egypt to consult with Mubarak on the latest peace moves.
Israeli and Palestinian officials said on Sunday they expected to start indirect peace talks within days, following the Arab League's endorsement of a U.S.-brokered plan to end the impasse.
Direct talks between the two sides collapsed when Israel launched a military offensive in the Gaza Strip in December 2008.
In March, the Palestinians agreed to participate in U.S.-mediated indirect talks for a period of four months.
But those plans collapsed when Israel announced during a visit by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden that it would build 1,600 new settler homes in annexed east Jerusalem.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
02-05-10 1328GMT
