Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner was meeting Palestinian officials in the West Bank (Photo: AFP)French FM says Mideast Peace Deal Unlikely In 2008 -- AFP
JENIN, West Bank (AFP) — A Middle East peace deal is unlikely by the end of the year, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said on Saturday, while urging Israelis and Palestinians to continue US-backed talks.
"We were supposed to get the document, not a final result but something, before the end of the year. But now we all know it will take a little bit longer," Kouchner told reporters in the West Bank town of Jenin.
"I don't know if we will see the Palestinian state before the end of the year, but I know this is absolutely a key and necessary -- we will get the Palestinian state."
Kouchner made the remarks after meeting Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad at the start of a two-day visit to Israel and the occupied territories.
Fayyad praised France, which holds the rotating European Union presidency, for its support of US-backed peace talks relaunched last November, calling Kouchner a "friend of the Palestinian people."
Negotiations have made little progress since they were formally relaunched to great fanfare after a seven-year hiatus, with the two sides remaining deeply divided on the thorniest issues of the decades-old conflict.
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My Comment: The French FM is stating the obvious. I would also add the year 2009.
The dynamics will only change if Sen. Barack Obama is elected President .... and he decides to become actively involved in a peace process. But personally .... I personally believe t that it will be Afghanistan and Iran that will probably become his priorities.
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