Last update - 00:00 20/06/2007
Upcoming Quartet meeting in Egypt delayed due to Hamas takeover
By The Associated Press
CAIRO, Egypt - A meeting of the Quartet of Mideast peacemakers due to be held in Egypt next week will likely be put off after some partners requested a delay following Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip, top Arab diplomats said Tuesday.
The group was due to meet in Egypt on Monday to probe the possibility of reviving a stalled Mideast peace initiative that was relaunched at an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia in March and includes a land-for-peace deal with Israel.
The delegates were expected to meet with an Arab League delegation, the Arab Quartet, to push forward the peace efforts.
However, now there are doubts that the meeting will be held. Some members have asked for a postponement, a senior Arab diplomat told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
The diplomat also refrained from naming which members of the Quartet - which includes the United States, Russia, the United Nations and European Union - asked for the postponement.
An Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman confirmed the request for postponement, saying it was due to the events in Gaza.
In Brussels, an EU official confirmed that the meeting may be postponed or held in another location.
A diplomat of the Arab League, which is based in Cairo, expressed regret over the postponement. "We hope that a new and near date will be fixed. The meeting is important," said Hesham Youssef, a senior aide to the league's secretary general Amr Moussa.
Israel had also hoped that the meeting in Egypt would bring together Israeli officials with representatives of the 22-member league.