Jordan: EU should play important role in push for Middle East peace

Oct 14, 2010, 16:03 GMT

Amman - Jordan wants the European Union to play a key role in efforts to break the stalemate in direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel, the Jordanian foreign minister told visiting European Middle East envoy Mark Otti on Thursday.

Nasser Judeh 'underscored the important role being performed by the European Union, the world community and the Middle East quartet in pushing forward peace efforts to resolve the conflict,' a foreign ministry statement said.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos and his French counterpart Bernard Kouchner had visited the region earlier this week to try to break the deadlock surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli talks.

During his meeting with Otti, Judeh urged EU countries to ensure 'a cessation of all unilateral Israeli measures, including the building of settlements.'

Direct Israeli-Palestinian peace talks are currently in limbo, after Israel's 10-month moratorium on construction in West Bank settlements expired at the end of last month.

The EU backed 'resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the basis of the two-state solution as part of a regional comprehensive peace,' Otti told Judeh, according to the statement.

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