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France wants Middle East peace talks kick-start: PM

By NicerNews • on February 22, 2010

Original Source: http://www.thecoolhunter.net
Author: REUTERS
Original Publication Date: February 21, 2010

France’s Prime Minister Francois Fillon looks on during his meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah at the Royal Palace in Amman February 21, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Muhammad Hamed

MMAN (Reuters) – France is considering recognizing a Palestinian state before its borders have been negotiated in an effort to kick-start Middle East peace talks, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said on Sunday.

France’s Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told French weekend newspaper Journal du Dimanche he was “tempted” by the idea of international recognition of a Palestinian state even before its borders were negotiated.

Kouchner’s proposal showed France’s willingness “to accelerate the (peace) process, to take initiatives which will kick off negotiations which are taking too long to start,” Fillon told a news conference in Jordan.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Fillon plan to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Paris on Monday.

Peace talks were halted more than a year ago over the war in the conflict in the Gaza Strip and have not resumed, due largely to a Palestinian demand that Israel first impose a complete freeze on building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and Israel’s refusal to do so.

(Reporting by Sophie Louet; Writing by Sophie Taylor; Editing by Jon Hemming)