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Palestinians to host western diplomats
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-11-18 21:34 The leading sponsors of
the "road map" peace plan will send top officials to the West Bank next week in
a renewed effort to revive the internationally backed peace plan, Palestinian
Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said Thursday.
Shaath said the talks would focus on Israel's
planned withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and ways to ensure that the withdrawal is
part of the road map.
Shaath said British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov are scheduled to come to Ramallah next week, in the days after a
visit next Monday by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. The foreign ministers
of Spain and Germany are also expected in the coming weeks, Shaath said.
The diplomats are all part of the "Quartet" of road map sponsors — the United
States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations.
"All of these important foreign ministers are coming to meet the Palestinian
leadership and to talk about an action plan for the coming period," Shaath said.
He said those elements would include "work on reviving the implementation of
the road map and that any withdrawal from Gaza should be part of the road map
and should be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority."
The road map, meant to bring about an independent Palestinian state, has been
stalled since it was signed in June 2003. The international community has
expressed hope for reviving the plan in the wake of Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat's death last week.
Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon refused to negotiate with Arafat, and
instead pushed forward with the Gaza withdrawal as part of his "unilateral
disengagement" plan to separate Israel and the
Palestinians.
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