Leaders of the quartet of West Asia peace mediators reaffirmed their backing on Sunday for the continuation of Israeli-Palestinian efforts toward a two-state solution, yet they shed no light on whether there had been any political progress after a year of negotiations.Those negotiations, which began last fall at an American-sponsored peace conference in Annapolis, have proved inconclusive so far. The Bush administration has conceded that the original goal of an agreement by the end of this year is unlikely to be met. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni briefed representatives of the quartet, which includes the US, UN, EU and Russia on Sunday at a hotel here.Despite a lack of obvious evidence of political progress, representatives of the quartet were clearly hoping that the peace process would survive the political transition in the US and a possible change of Government in Israel, where elections are scheduled for February 10. Abbas said that he and the Israelis would continue to meet until the Israeli elections were over and the new American administration was in office, and that joint technical committees would continue with their work.UN secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said that while obstacles remained, the parties to the talks “shared their assessment that the present negotiations are substantial and promising” and that they have put in place a “solid negotiating structure for continued progress in the future”.
