Egypt:The Middle East peace Quartet gathers in Egypt today to hear Israel and the Palestinians report on progress in peace talks currently stymied by elections in the US and Israel.

The meeting of the US, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations in Sharm el-Sheikh comes after US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice admitted she did not expect a breakthrough before Barack Obama moves into the White House.

The slow-moving peace process has been further affected by the political turmoil surrounding the resignation of Israel's scandal-plagued Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, that led to the scheduling of snap elections for February.

Rice will arrive from Israel and hold bilateral talks with Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov today before group talks, including with UN chief Ban Ki-moon, tomorrow.

Rice has tacitly admitted that Israel and the Palestinians are unlikely to reach a peace deal by the time US President George W Bush's mandate ends on January 20,despite earlier pledges to seek agreement by the end of this year.

"The distance to peace has been narrowed although peace has not been achieved," she said after meeting Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas in the West Bank yesterday during her 19th visit to the Middle East in two years.

In the absence of an accord, Rice is pushing the two sides to define the outlines of a deal before she hands over the thorny Middle East dossier to an Obama administration.

"One of the things we must do is that we must show... that Annapolis has laid the foundation for the establishment of the state of Palestine," she said.
Source : PTI