Last update - 00:00 21/11/2006
Olmert: New European peace plan impeding regional progress
By Reuters
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told his Italian counterpart on Tuesday that the new European initiative for Middle East peace was interfering in political progress between Israel and Palestinians.
Olmert also said there has been progress in talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi said on Tuesday he wants Britain and Germany to be part of a new push for Middle East peace that is being developed by Italy, France and Spain.
A statement issued by Prodi's office said the Italian leader described the initiative to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in a telephone call.
Prodi told Olmert that the three initiators of the plan had a "particular sensibility" for the Middle East as they also border the Mediterranean, but that other major European Union countries need to be involved.
"President Prodi underlined that in his opinion the initiative must be extended to other European partners, starting with Germany and Great Britain, to give it greater chance for success and make it more likely to receive consensus from all interested parties," the statement said.
The leaders of Italy, France and Spain announced the joint Middle East plan last week. It includes a ceasefire, a Palestinian government of national unity, an exchange of Israeli and Palestinian prisoners, and possibly international observers.
Israel was cool to the idea and the United States is working on its own planning, which could include an international peace conference in Jordan at the end of the month.
It is not clear how either initiative fits into the Middle East "road map" launched in 2003 by the Quartet of international mediators -- the United States, the EU, the United Nations and Russia -- and previously seen as the only agreed framework for reviving talks on long-term peace.
Olmert will visit Italy on December 13, the statement said.