Chirac calls for "rapid" meeting of Mideast quartet

Deutsche Presse Agentur
Published: Monday August 28, 2006

Paris- French President Jacques Chirac on Monday called for a "rapid" meeting of the so-called Mideast quartet to relaunch the peace process between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. "To resign oneself to the status quo is to risk a spiral of violence that will go out of control," Chirac warned French ambassadors meeting in Paris.

The French president said that just as Israel had a right to live in peace and security, the Palestinians had the right of their own state with stable and secure borders.

"The realization of the legitimate rights of the Palestinians would justify neither the intolerable denial of Israel's right to exist nor the recourse to terrorism," Chirac said.

Noting that a relaunch of the peace process was vital, Chirac said: "In this perspective I call for a rapid meeting of the quartet," which consists of the United States, the European Union, the United Nations and Russia.

After meeting with Chirac last week in Paris, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also called for a meeting of the Mideast quartet to revive the flagging peace process.

© 2006 DPA - Deutsche Presse-Agenteur