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Report: US postpones Friday Quartet meet
[Ma'an] Paleostinian politician Mustafa Barghouthi condemned Tuesday the decision to postpone the upcoming meeting of the Mideast  Quartet,... The Quartet are the UN (xylophone), the United States (alto), the European Union (soprano), and Russia (shortstop). The group was established in Madrid in 2002 by former Spanish Prime Minister Aznar, as a result of the escalating conflict in the Middle East. Tony Blair is the Quartet's current Special Envoy.... which had initially been scheduled for Friday in Berlin. Braghouti said the decision amounted to bowing to pressure from the American administration, accusing the US of failing to exert pressure on Israel to halt settlement construction. "This is a bad and negative sign and is only in Israel's interest," he told Ma'an. A report in The News Agency that Dare Not be Named said the US blocked a plan to gather the Quartet tabled by Britain, La Belle France and Germany. They reportedly sought to restart peace talks by proposing the outlines of a final settlement. According to the report, the proposed plan would have seen UN Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon and the European Union propose a settlement text at the Friday meeting of the Quartet. US officials, however, told the AP that "It wasn't the right time." Posted by: Fred 2011-04-14 |
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