Understandsing Anapolis -

Real Time Analysis from the Reut Institute

Following is the text of a statement by the Quartet of Middle East negotiators following their November 26 meeting in Washington, DC:

The Quartet expressed strong support for the November 27 Annapolis Conference. It welcomed the commitment of the Israeli and Palestinians leaders to launch bilateral negotiations toward the establishment of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and the realization of Israeli-Palestinian peace. This reflects the results of months of work by the parties and by the Quartet, including the Quartet's engagement with members of the Arab League Follow-Up Committee to expand the circle of support for peace. The Quartet welcomed the parties' continuing efforts to fulfill their respective commitments under Phase One of the Roadmap and urged the international community to provide robust support for all the parties' efforts. Principals took note of the broad international support for the Annapolis Conference, and looked forward to the December Paris Donors' Conference to muster international financial backing for efforts to build the foundation for a viable and prosperous Palestinian state. The Quartet agreed to remain closely involved, and to that end will meet again in December, and looks forward to inviting members of the Arab League Follow-Up Committee to attend.

The Quartet affirmed its commitment to seize this opportunity to mobilize international support to achieve meaningful progress towards a just and lasting negotiated settlement to this conflict, and ultimately a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

The heads of each delegation attending the Mideast peace summit in Annapolis, Maryland, as provided by the State Department:

- Israel, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
- Palestinian Authority, President Mahmoud Abbas
- United States, President George W. Bush
- European Union Commission, Benita Ferrero-Waldner, external affairs commissioner
- European Union High Representative, Javier Solana, high representative for common foreign and security policy, secretary general of the council of the European Union
- European Union Presidency, Portuguese Foreign Minister Luis Amado
- Russia, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
- United Nations, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
- Quartet Representative, Tony Blair, Middle East envoy
- Algeria, Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci
- Bahrain, Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa
- Egypt, Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit
- Jordan, Foreign Minister Salaheddine al-Bashir
- Lebanon, Foreign Minister Tarek Mitri
- Morocco, Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri
- Qatar, Foreign Minister Ahmed bin Abdulla Al-Mahmoud
- Saudi Arabia, Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal
- Sudan, Ambassador John Ukec
- Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad
- Tunisia, Foreign Minister Abdelwahab Abdallah
- Yemen, Foreign Minister Abubakr al-Qirbi
- Arab League, Secretary General Amr Moussa
- Canada, Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier
- China, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi
- France, Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
- Germany, Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier
- Italy, Foreign Minister Massimo D'Alema
- Japan, Tatsuo Arima, special envoy for the Middle East
- United Kingdom, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs David Miliband
- Brazil, Foreign Minister Celso Amorim
- Denmark, Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller
- Greece, Foreign Minister Dora Bakoyannis
- India, Kapil Sibal, minister of science and technology and earth sciences
- Indonesia, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda
- Malaysia, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar
- Mauritania, Foreign Minister Mohamed Ahmed Ould Mohamed Lemine
- Mexico, Foreign Relations Undersecretary Lourdes Aranda
- Netherlands, Frans Timmermans, minister for European affairs
- Norway, Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store
- Organization of the Islamic Conference, Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu
- Oman, Foreign Minister Yusuf bin Alawi bin Abdulla
- Pakistan, Foreign Secretary Riaz Mohammad Khan
- Poland, Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski
- Senegal, Foreign Minister Cheikh Tidiane Gadio
- Slovenia, Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel
- South Africa, Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma
- Spain, Minister of Foreign Affairs Miguel Angel Moratinos
- Sweden, Foreign Minister Carl Bildt
- Turkey, Ali Babacan, foreign minister and chief EU negotiator
- United Arab Emirates, Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan
- Vatican, Pietro Parolin, undersecretary of foreign affairs
- International Monetary Fund, Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn
- World Bank, President Robert Zoellick

http://info.jpost.com/C007/Supplements/annapolis.2007/

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