Yasser Abed Rabbo... Paleostinian politician and a member of the Paleostine Liberation Organization's (PLO) Executive Committee. He holds an M.A. in economics and political science from the American University in Cairo.....
told Kuwait news agency KUNA Monday that the latest
Quartet... The Quartet are the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society (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....
statement on the grinding of the peace processor was "regretful" and fell short of the Paleostinians' expectations.
The statement, which focused on getting sides back to the negotiating table as an "imperative" for regional stability, did not mention Israel's failure to stop settlement construction on Paleostinian lands, an issue PLO negotiators say remains the stumbling block to a return to talks.
In their statement, the Quartet urged sides "to undertake urgently efforts to expedite Israeli-Paleostinian and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace, which is imperative to avoiding outcomes detrimental to the region."
Abed Rabbo told KUNA that he blamed Quartet Envoy and former British premier Tony Blair for the weak statement.
Also on Monday, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry echoed Abed Rabbo's statements, issuing a paper calling the Quartet statement "disappointing and less than expected for both Paleostinians and Arabs."
Egyptian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hossam Zaki said the statement focused on general rather than the core issues, and criticized it because it "neither touched upon the core issues nor included recognition of a Paleostinian state on the land occupied in 1967 war and East Jerusalem as its capital as it was expected."