London to host Quartet discussions on Mideast
Palestine-Israel-UK, Politics, 10/19/2006

The so-called quartet of Middle East mediators, the UN, EU, US and Russia, are to hold their meeting in London next week, the British government has revealed.

In a written parliamentary reply published on Thursday, Foreign Office Minister Lord Triesman said that the quartet will meet in the British capital for two-days, starting on Tuesday October 24.

At their last meeting in September in New York, the quartet reaffirmed its commitment to the road map as the means to realise the goal of two states "in peace and security," Triesman said.

The meeting comes amid a growing sense of urgency to get the Middle East peace process moving following the Israeli regime's recent month-long invasion of Lebanon, in which over 1,300 civilians were killed.

Prime Minister Tony Blair last month again reiterated that he would give initiatives to resolve the Middle East dispute equal priority with the Northern Ireland peace process before stepping down from power within the next 11 months.

International Development Secretary Hillary Benn on Wednesday highlighted the pressing to find a resolution, saying that "77 Palestinians were killed and 266 injured in the West Bank and Gaza during August due to Israeli military operations." "In the West Bank poverty now stands at 66 per cent, up from 62 per cent in June 2005. In Gaza the poverty rate is 79 per cent, up from 77 per cent a year ago," Benn told MPs in a parliament reply.

The situation in the Palestinian territories remains "very difficult," he said." Continued Israeli military operations in Gaza, internal violence between Palestinian factions and the strike by Palestinian Authority employees have all contributed," he said.

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