Solana visits Middle East before key summits
Associated Press , THE JERUSALEM POST Sep. 1, 2007
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana went to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Saturday to discuss the latest developments in the region before key conferences on the Middle East peace process.
Solana was to hold talks with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during his three-day visit, his office said. Other high-ranking politicians to meet Solana include Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salaam Fayad.
EU foreign ministers will meet in Portugal next week; the international Quartet of peacemakers - the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia - meets in New York later this month, and a US-sponsored Middle East peace conference is to be held in November.
Pressure is mounting on Israelis and the Palestinians to make substantial progress before the peace conference, proposed by US President George W. Bush after bloody infighting split the Palestinian leadership into two rival governments.
Solana visits Middle East before key summits
