ALGERIA: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are at a critical moment although progress was made in overnight discussions
Record ID:
574335
ALGERIA: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are at a critical moment although progress was made in overnight discussions
- Title: ALGERIA: U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry says talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are at a critical moment although progress was made in overnight discussions
- Date: 3rd April 2014
- Summary: ALGIERS, ALGERIA (APRIL 3, 2014) (REUTERS) ALGERIAN MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS BUILDING U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE JOHN KERRY AND ALGERIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RAMTANE LAMAMRA WALKING THROUGH LOBBY KERRY WALKING INTO NEWS CONFERENCE AND TAKING SEAT BEHIND MICROPHONES/ LAMAMRA WALKING BEHIND HIM MEDIA SEATED/KERRY AND LAMAMRA SEATED KERRY AND LAMAMRA TALKING AMERICAN AND ALGERIAN FLAGS KERRY SEATED BEHIND MICROPHONES WITH AMERICAN AND ALGERIA FLAGS IN THE BACKGROUND (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "I've been in direct touch this morning with our team on the ground in Israel and they worked literally until four in the morning in direct discussions between Israelis and Palestinians with the United States present, in an effort to try to move the process forward. I think it is a critical moment, obviously. The dialogue remains open. There was progress made in narrowing some of the questions that have arisen as a result of the events of the last few days, but there's still a gap and that gap will have to be closed, and closed fairly soon." CAMERAMAN FILMING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "They understand what the choices are, they understand what the stakes are and they understand each of them, their own limits and dynamics, so we are urging them to find the compromise that is critical to being able to move forward." OFFICIALS AND JOURNALISTS LISTENING TO NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE, JOHN KERRY, SAYING: "The disagreement between them, is not over the fundamental substance of a final status agreement. It's over the process that would get you there and what you need to do in order to be able to continue to negotiate. It would be a tragedy for both of them, we would say, for them to lose the opportunity to get to those real issues that are the differences of the final status agreement." KERRY AND LAMAMRA SHAKING HANDS AT END OF NEWS CONFERENCE KERRY AND LAMAMRA LEAVING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF KERRY AND LAMAMRA HELPING PLANT A TREE OUTSIDE FOREIGN MINISTRY
- Embargoed: 18th April 2014 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Algeria
- Country: Algeria
- Topics: International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVA5V9IQ3TVHDDTVLZRRFVFIA49R
- Story Text: Talks between Israeli and Palestinian negotiators are at a critical moment although progress was made in overnight discussions, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday (April 3).
"I've been in direct touch this morning with our team on the ground in Israel and they worked literally until four in the morning in direct discussions between Israelis and Palestinians with the United States present, in an effort to try to move the process forward. I think it is a critical moment, obviously. The dialogue remains open. There was progress made in narrowing some of the questions that have arisen as a result of the events of the last few days, but there's still a gap and that gap will have to be closed, and closed fairly soon," Kerry told a news conference.
He made his remarks during a visit to Algeria after U.S.-backed direct peace negotiations appeared near to collapse, with the Israelis and Palestinians accusing each other of failing to honour prior commitments.
"They understand what the choices are, they understand what the stakes are and they understand each of them, their own limits and dynamics, so we are urging them to find the compromise that is critical to being able to move forward," Kerry added.
The talks ran into trouble at the weekend when Israel refused to release a group of Palestinian prisoners under the terms of a previous accord unless it received assurances that the Palestinian leadership would continue with negotiations beyond an initial end-April deadline.
Aimed at creating a Palestinian state and ending a decades-long conflict, the talks have also stalled over Palestinian opposition to Israel's demand that it be recognised as a Jewish state, and the issue of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Kerry flew to Jerusalem on Monday (March 31) and was trying to put the talks back on track.
But his mission was jeopardised when Palestinians signed 15 international conventions that could give them greater leverage against Israel.
"The disagreement between them, is not over the fundamental substance of a final status agreement. It's over the process that would get you there and what you need to do in order to be able to continue to negotiate. It would be a tragedy for both of them, we would say, for them to lose the opportunity to get to those real issues that are the differences of the final status agreement," Kerry said. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2014. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None