Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top

World

Kerry to meet Palestinian negotiator in London talks

US Secretary of State John Kerry talks before meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at Villa Taverna, on December 14, 2014 in Rome/AFP

US Secretary of State John Kerry talks before meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, at Villa Taverna, on December 14, 2014 in Rome/AFP

LONDON, Dec16- Top US diplomat John Kerry meets chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat Tuesday hoping to avert a diplomatic crisis over a UN bid to force Israel to withdraw from Palestinian land.

The American secretary of state will seek to persuade the Palestinians not to rush ahead with a draft UN resolution seeking to set a two

year timetable for an end to the Israeli occupation.

Kerry has spent the past two days jetting across Europe meeting his counterparts as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gauge support for the Palestinian effort at the UN Security Council.

Netanyahu warned late Monday that European backing for the Palestinians could harm his country.

“I said that the attempts of the Palestinians and of several European countries to force conditions on Israel will only lead to a deterioration in the regional situation and will endanger Israel,” he said in a statement.

“Therefore, we will strongly oppose this.”

His comments followed almost three hours of talks in Rome with Kerry.

The two men “had a long and thorough discussion about Israel’s security and developments at the United Nations,” a State Department official said.

Kerry arrived late Monday in London having paused en route from Rome for less than two hours in Paris to meet with European counterparts.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

The Palestinians have said they will submit an Arab backed draft text to the UN as early as Wednesday.

France is putting together a more nuanced version setting a two year timetable for concluding a peace treaty, without mentioning the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Kerry held late night dinner talks with the foreign ministers of France, Britain and Germany inside Orly airport in Paris seeking clarification on the French led resolution bid.

Traditionally the US has used its power of veto at the UN Security Council to shoot down what it sees as moves against its close regional ally, Israel.

US officials told reporters accompanying Kerry that Washington has not yet decided whether to veto or back the French led UN initiative.

“There are certain things we would never support,” said a State Department official, without elaborating.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius told AFP they were looking for “a resolution which everyone can get behind”.

“Even if the Palestinians have a text in their hand, the Americans have already said that they will veto it.”

– Growing impatience –

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Netanyahu earlier said: “We will not accept attempts to dictate to us unilateral moves on a limited timetable.”

Jordan, which the Palestinians said would submit their resolution, maintained it had no immediate plans to push for an early UN vote.

Jordanian Ambassador Dina Kawar to the UN said: “Secretary Kerry is having meetings in Europe with a number of ministers so we are waiting to see what happens.”

 

About The Author

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News