MIDDLE EAST: Envoys from the Middle East quartet - the United States, Russia, the United Nations and the European Union - are to attend a meeting on Palestinian reform in London on March 1st.
The news adds impetus to a personal initiative by British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair in the search for Middle East peace. The meeting will discuss reform of Palestinian institutions and financial aid, seen by all sides as critical to taking forward the peace process and the creation of a separate state. Israel, however, has declined to attend.
Palestinians welcomed the quartet's participation, as did Israel. A foreign ministry spokesman said Israel would continue to do its part to implement a US-backed plan or "road map" towards peaceful co-existence. - Reuters