Mideast quartet urges Israel to freeze all settlement activity+

Mideast quartet urges Israel to freeze all settlement activity+

TRIESTE, Italy, June 26 Kyodo -
The Quartet of Middle East peace negotiators urged Israel on Friday to freeze
all settlement activity in the Palestinian territories, including ''natural
growth.''

The Quartet, which comprises the United Nations, the European Union, the United
States and Russia, made the call in a statement after a meeting held on the
sidelines of a Group of Eight foreign ministers' meeting in the northern
Italian city of Trieste.
''The Quartet affirmed its determination to actively and vigorously seek a
comprehensive resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict,'' the statement said.
''It agreed that Arab-Israeli peace and the establishment of a state of
Palestine in the West Bank and Gaza in which the Palestinian people can
determine their own destiny is in the fundamental interests of the
international community,'' it said.
''The Quartet called on all parties concerned to take meaningful steps to
support this objective. In that context, the Quartet urged the government of
Israel to freeze all settlement activity, including natural growth,'' according
to the statement.
Last week, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signaled his willingness
to support the establishment of a Palestinian state with conditions attached,
including that it be demilitarized.
''The Quartet is united in one voice,'' U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon told
a news conference, adding, ''The whole world should cooperate fully.''
The Quartet's statement came after a similar call from the G-8 foreign
ministers, who are in the middle of a three-day meeting that started Thursday.
The G-8 groups Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the
United States.
==Kyodo