Hope for Mideast peace deal rekindled

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Source: CCTV.com | 11-10-2008 09:44

There is a new glimmer of hope for a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Both sides agreed to continue negotiations that began last November in the US city of Annapolis.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (R) shakes hands with Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni after the Middle  East peace Quartet meeting at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh November 9, 2008.REUTERS/Amr Dalsh

Backed by international mediators, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni pledged to continue with their peace talks.

Speaking at a news conference after a meeting with the so-called Mideast Quartet in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik, Abbas and Livni also asked for continued international support for the peace process.

Tzipi Livni, Israeli Foreign Minister, said, "I do believe that the Annapolis process and the Annapolis understandings and the peace process itself serves the interest of both our peoples. It serves the Israeli interest to live in peace with its neighbors, including the Palestinians."

The Quartet, made up of the US, the EU, the UN, and Russia, is pushing for a comprehensive agreement initiated by US President George W. Bush last year.

The Annapolis agreement outlined a multi-pronged path to peace, including the setting up of Palestinian institutions in anticipation of an independent Palestinian state.

Condoleezza Rice, US Secretart of State, said, "We have an international strategy now to finally establish the two state solution which president (George W.) Bush set as a goal several years ago, and so I believe that the Annapolis process is now the international community's answer and the parties' answer to how do we finally end the conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis."

However, the goal of reaching a final Mideast peace deal is still daunting.

Abbas has to work with Hamas, which has just boycotted the Palestinian reconciliation talks scheduled for Sunday in Cairo, Egypt.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei