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Middle East Quartet 'is failing' Mid-East Quartet 'has lost grip'
(about 5 hours later)
Aid agencies have accused the Middle East Quartet of failing in its mission and urged it to increase its efforts. The Quartet of international powers has "lost its grip" on the Middle East peace process which it is meant to foster, a group of aid agencies says.
In a report, the agencies said the Quartet - which comprises Russia, the US, the EU and the UN - had failed to make progress on a number of fronts. In a damning report, the agencies say the Quartet - Russia, the US, the EU and the UN - is failing in its mission.
Conditions for Palestinians, which it was meant to improve, have worsened since peace talks recommenced under US sponsorship in 2007, the agencies say.
In the West Bank there was an increase in Israeli settlement and travel curbs.
The report was issued ahead of a Quartet meeting in New York on Friday.The report was issued ahead of a Quartet meeting in New York on Friday.
The Bush administration has been seeking a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians by year-end but this is looking increasingly unlikely. "The Annapolis process [launched by the US in November 2007] was meant to herald a new dawn for the Middle East peace process," said Christian Aid director Daleep Mukarji.
'Deterioration' Unless there is a swift and dramatic improvement, it will be necessary to question what the future is for the Middle East Quartet Aid agency report class="" href="/1/hi/world/middle_east/7148175.stm">Palestinian aid: Where will it go?
The coalition of 21 prominent aid agencies, including Oxfam and Save the Children, said the Quartet had fundamentally failed in its mission. "Nearly one year on, we are seeing exponential settlement growth, additional check-points and - because of this - further economic stagnation.
It warned that the Middle East peace process would fall apart unless the group made swift and dramatic progress towards the goals it had set itself. "The Quartet is losing its grip on the Middle East peace process."
The report said that there was no change and even marked deterioration on several of the main objectives set by the Quartet to help improve the daily lives of the Palestinians. There has been no immediate response from the Quartet, whose representative in the region is former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair.
This included securing the removal of Israeli checkpoints, halting the growth of Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian land and addressing the isolation of the Gaza strip. Missed objectives
The Quartet had failed to hold Israel to account for expanding the settlements, the report added. The Bush administration wanted the November 2007 peace summit at Annapolis to lead to a peace deal between Israelis and Palestinians before it left office but this is looking increasingly unlikely.
The White House has been trying to help bring about a peace deal between the Israelis and the Palestinians by the end of the year. The coalition of 21 aid agencies - including Oxfam, Save the Children, Care, Cafod and World Vision - warned that the peace process would fall apart unless the Quartet made swift and dramatic progress towards its goals.
But this is looking increasingly unlikely and while Washington insists there is progress on the ground, ordinary Palestinians have yet to feel a real difference in their lives. The report says there has been no change in a number of the 10 main objectives set by the Quartet to help improve the daily lives of the Palestinians and in five of them an actual deterioration.
It had failed to hold Israel to account for expanding the settlements on occupied land, the report added.
The agencies say this week's Quartet meeting would take place at "a critical moment to demonstrate that it can play an effective role in bringing peace to the Middle East".
"Unless there is a swift and dramatic improvement, it will be necessary to question what the future is for the Middle East Quartet," it said.
"We are facing a vacuum in leadership," said Care International representative Martha Myers. "The Quartet's credibility is on the line."