Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Information Riyad al-Malki said Saturday that he believes an extensive peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel is likely to be inked by the end of 2008.
Malki expressed his believe to Xinhua on the sidelines of the second Ministerial Meeting of Asia-Middle East Dialogue (AMED),which staged in the Egyptian Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh on Saturday.
Malki told Xinhua that technically the Palestinians and Israel could sign a peace agreement by the end of this year. Meanwhile, the senior Palestinian official called on the international community, including the United States to make more efforts to promote the peace process and put pressure on Israel, which should stop building settlements and end the military operations in the Palestinian territories.
Malki also expressed confidence on Egypt's mediating efforts, expecting Egypt to be a positive player in solving the Palestine issue.
However, he said the Palestinian-Israeli negotiation has not achieved any tangible progress until now, with no agreement signed and consensus achieved on final status issues.
On the internal Palestinian split, Malki said no achievement has been scored between the rival movements, Fatah and Hamas, and more efforts from the international community are needed.
He said meetings only for meetings cannot be accepted, and results are of great importance, urging Hamas to accept the Yemeni Initiative.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has presented a seven-point initiative to leaders of Hamas and Fatah, which suggested a reversion to the pre-June 2007 situation and holding early presidential and legislative elections.
Fatah expects an immediate implementation of the initiative, while Hamas insists the clauses of the initiative are to be discussed.
Foreign ministers, representatives and senior officials from 50Asian and Middle East countries attended the two-day second AMED meeting, under the theme "Partnership in Action Towards a Better Future", to foster dialogues and boost cooperation between the two regions in the political, economic, cultural and scientific fields.
Source: Xinhua
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