(Ebru News/ AP) The British Foreign Secretary arrived in the West Bank city of Ramallah for meetings with Palestinian officials ahead of a possible high profile summit to be held in the United States at the end of the month.
David Miliband met with Palestinian Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki.
David Miliband, British Foreign Secretary said : "The road from Annapolis, the negotiations and talks that will follow that, need to be carried on in a spirit of real drive for a solution to this problem that has inflicted insecurity on Israelis and suffering on Palestinians for far too long."
The US has still not formally announced a date for the conference, or invited participants, although the expected date is barely over a week away.
Israeli and Palestinian negotiators meeting prior to the summit have hit repeated snags over what the conference is meant to achieve, and what should be declared prior to the meeting.
Although the United States has said it would like the participation of Arab states, they have been slow to throw their support behind the conference without an indication that it will achieve clear goals.
Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said that he had sent a letter to the US consul general in Jerusalem, Jacob Walles, calling for Israel to quickly cease all settlement construction in the West Bank.
The sides recently recommitted to carry out their obligations in the road map plan from 2003, which for Israel includes a halt to settlement activity.
The Palestinians want Israel to withdraw from all territory it captured in the 1967 Mideast war, including West Bank land on which almost 270-thousand Jewish settlers live.
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Miliband Arrives in Palestine for Talks
19
Nov
2007
Nov
2007
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