WEST BANK: Quartet's Tony Blair and Chief Palestinian negotiator say all parties are working hard to forge a peace deal
Record ID:
561090
WEST BANK: Quartet's Tony Blair and Chief Palestinian negotiator say all parties are working hard to forge a peace deal
- Title: WEST BANK: Quartet's Tony Blair and Chief Palestinian negotiator say all parties are working hard to forge a peace deal
- Date: 3rd September 2008
- Summary: (MER2) ABU DIS, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 2, 2008) (REUTERS) QUARTET SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST, TONY BLAIR, STEPPING OUT OF VEHICLE AND ENTERING HOUSE BLAIR SITTING WITH CHIEF PALESTINIAN NEGOTIATOR AHMED QUREI VARIOUS OF BLAIR AND QUREI IN MEETING
- Embargoed: 18th September 2008 13:00
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- Reuters ID: LVA1J7ZI3H8PV8T9OE7E1DCK4HHP
- Story Text: Quartet Special Envoy to the Middle East, Tony Blair, meets chief Palestinian Negotiator Ahmed Qurei for an update on peace talks with Israel Tony Blair, the Quartet's Special Envoy to the Middle East met Palestinian Chief Negotiator Ahmed Qurei on Monday (September 2) for talks on the seemingly slow progress in peace talks with Israel.
Washington has hoped it can provide a breakthrough for talks to find a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by the end of the year based on a two-state solution.
Blair held talks with Qurei in the West Bank town of Abu Dis before holding a news conference.
Qurei admitted that negotiations were proving tough.
"First of all, the negotiations are in fact difficult and the issues are difficult. These issues represent the depth of life for us Palestinians, we are currently negotiating , territory, Jerusalem, the refugees, security, water and others. These are the serious issues for the Palestinian people," he said.
Last week, after a meeting between President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem, Abbas said he was still committed to a comprehensive peace deal but ruled out any partial agreement, a Palestinian negotiator said.
Blair, the former British prime minister, said there were complications to the issue but vowed to carry on trying to broker a deal.
"Well, I think it's very important that the facts on the ground don't contradict the possibility of progress, and that's what we've said all the way through. But that's why, I think, you always need to see everything moving together, the politics, the political negotiation for an agreement, the building of Palestinian capacity, and obviously, the facts on the ground, the chance for Palestinians to develop economically and socially. And that's what we're trying to bring about. I think at this very moment, it's hard and probably unwise to make predictions because of the challenges we face in the politics of it, but we've got to carry-on trying," he said.
A senior Abbas aide said last week that Washington had proposed a territorial swap and basing the borders of a future Palestinian state on lines that existed before Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 war, while taking into account several major Jewish settlement blocs. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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