BICOM

The Middle East Quartet group consisting of senior officials from the US, EU, UN and Russia will meet on February 5 on the sidelines of a conference in Munich to discuss the Middle East peace process. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and EU Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton will be present at the meeting. The meeting is expected to cover new issues in the region such as the fall of the government in Lebanon and the uprising in Tunisia. The Quartet last met in September, just before the 10 month settlement moratorium expired and direct talks broke down. 

In related news, US Middle East envoy George Mitchell met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s envoy, Yitzchak Molcho and PA chief negotiator Saeb Erekat last Thursday. US State Department spokesperson, PJ Crowley said that the meeting was on a working level and dealt with making progress on the core issues of the conflict. Meanwhile, the US administration has set up a task force to offer suggestions to the US National Security Council on ways to move forward with peace talks.