French Minister Suggests Group to Push Middle East Talks
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Version 0 of 1. UNITED NATIONS — France floated the idea on Monday of a new international group to spur negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians. In so doing, the French seemed to dial back from an earlier proposal to get the United Nations Security Council involved in the gnarled and stuck Middle East peace talks. Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius of France described his idea as an alternative to the all-but-defunct Middle East quartet, made up of envoys representing the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. Mr. Fabius said a new group — “a kind of quartet plus” — should include representatives of the Arab world. “It makes sense, and everyone must acknowledge that the Arabs who are part and parcel of the region and who are all interested in a solution would be involved,” he told reporters Monday in a briefing at the United Nations headquarters. “It’s reasonable.” Mr. Fabius’s remarks followed his visit to the Middle East, where he met with Arab leaders and with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who dismissed the need for Security Council involvement in any peace talks on the Palestinian issue. Mr. Fabius said, “A resolution is a tool, not an end by itself.” He added that his chief goal was to return to negotiations and avert further conflict in the Palestinian territories. “If and when a resolution is necessary, we think about it,” he said. Mr. Fabius was far more definitive just three months ago on the need for a Security Council measure that would establish what France called the parameters for any talks between the two sides. He said Mr. Netanyahu told him he opposed “a diktat,” to which the French diplomat replied that “diktat” was not a French term. (It derives from a German word.) Speaking about Iran, Mr. Fabius declined to be drawn into a conversation about the prospects for a nuclear agreement, except to say that the negotiators in Vienna had decided to extend the Tuesday deadline for talks indefinitely. “We agreed not to set a date,” he said. Mr. Fabius said he was prepared to return to Vienna “when it is necessary.” Pressed by reporters for something more precise, he said, “This week, sure.” He said there were still questions about how to remove sanctions and how to reimpose them automatically in case of noncompliance. He declined to go into details, about the obstacles in the negotiations or a possible Security Council resolution that would “snap back” sanctions if Iran violated the terms of a potential agreement. “As far as France is concerned, we are in favor of an agreement, but it has to be what we call a robust agreement,” he said. |