Arab League Secretary General calls for reform of Middle East Quarter
MOSCOW. July 1 (Interfax) - Secretary General of the League of Arab States (LAS) Nabil El-Araby finds it necessary to revise the role and operations of the quartet of international mediators in the Middle East settlement process, finding the quarter ineffective.
"I was invited to speak of rethinking the role of the quarter [EU, Russia, USA, UN]," he said at an international conference at the UN in support of peace between Israel and Palestine on Wednesday.
It should be reformatted in order to reach comprehensive peace in the Middle East, to better support international measures aimed at implementing corresponding resolutions, he said.
It is not simply a question of setting up another mechanism of verbal support for initiatives but actual termination of the conflict through stopping the occupation, he said. "What is happening can no longer be tolerated," he said.
"At this conference LAS would want to declare with full clarity that the experience of the Quartet in the peace talks between the Palestinian and Israeli sides has not guaranteed any progress. Therefore the situation requires a serious objective revision of such activities and of the role of the quarter," the diplomat said.
"Any new initiatives should be put forward within the framework of the UN Security Council so that there would be full clarity. An end to the construction of settlements is also implied," he said.
