WEST BANK: U.S Secretary of State John Kerry visits Bethlehem's Manger Square, checks U.S. renovation project

Record ID: 564732

  • Title: WEST BANK: U.S Secretary of State John Kerry visits Bethlehem's Manger Square, checks U.S. renovation project
  • Date: 6th November 2013
  • Summary: BETHLEHEM, WEST BANK (NOVEMBER 06, 2013) (REUTERS) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY ARRIVES TO MANGER SQUARE KERRY WITH PALESTINIAN MAYOR OF BETHLEHEM VERA BABOUN KERRY CHECKING A ROAD WHICH USAID ORGANIZATION IS GOING TO RENOVATE SIGN READING IN ENGLISH AND ARABIC 'MILLING AND OVERLAY OF BETHLEHEM INTERNAL ROADS' KERRY DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "As in any negotiation there will be moments of up and moments of down, and it goes back and forth. But I can tell you, President Obama and I are determined and neither of us will stop in our efforts to pursue the possibility. We are determined to try to bring lasting peace to the people of this region." PALESTINIAN SECURITY FORCE WHILE KERRY SPEAKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "The Palestinian economy will not be built on foreign aid alone. It will be built on a hard work and entrepreneurship of the Palestinian people and it will be built on a foundation of a politically-arrived at peace." VARIOUS OF KERRY AT PALESTINIAN SOUVENIR SHOP, THAT SELLS OLIVE WOOD SOUVENIRS KERRY RECEIVING GIFT FROM OWNER OF SOUVENIR SHOP MORE OF KERRY AT SOUVENIR SHOP VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN SECURITY FORCES CONVOY LEAVING MANGER SQUARE
  • Embargoed: 21st November 2013 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: International Relations
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Y2T5L6QJP1MVQLJ2JK410WB5
  • Story Text: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, faced with grim Israeli and Palestinian assessments of progress in peace talks, said on Wednesday (November 6) that Washington was not giving up on a deal.

    "As in any negotiation there will be moments of up and moments of down, and it goes back and forth," Kerry said in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, where he met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

    "But I can tell you that President Obama and I are determined, and neither of us will stop in our efforts to pursue the possibility. We are determined to try to bring lasting peace to the people of this region," he said.
    Kerry, whose shuttle diplomacy helped to revive the land-for-peace talks last July after a three-year break, has set a nine-month target window for an agreement, despite widespread scepticism among Israelis and Palestinians.
    Few details have emerged from the negotiations, held at unannounced times and at secret locations in line with pledges to keep a lid on leaks.
    Kerry, on a symbolic visit to a road renovation project funded by USAID, said peace in the region would help the Palestinian economy to become self-reliant.

    "The Palestinian economy will not be built on foreign aid alone. It will be built on a hard work and entrepreneurship of the Palestinian people and it will be built on a foundation of a politically-arrived at peace," he said at a news conference in Bethlehems' historic centre.
    He later toured a local souvenir shop and received a baby Jesus as a gift.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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