Peace more urgent than ever

Obama, Peres discuss ME issue:

US: Reaching peace in the Middle East is more urgent than ever as pro-democracy uprisings rock the Arab world, President Barack Obama said Tuesday after meeting his Israeli counterpart Shimon Peres.

Separately, the United States warned that it was concerned about Israeli plans to build more than 900 new homes in east Jerusalem, reopening an old controversy between Washington and the Israeli government over settlements.

Obama told reporters that he and Peres had an “extensive discussion” about events in the turbulent Middle East during their lunch and shared the belief that this was a moment of “challenge and opportunity.”

“With the winds of change blowing through the Arab world, it is more important than ever to create a peaceful solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis,” Obama said.

The US leader added that Peres “had interesting ideas around those issues” but did not elaborate, saying only that it was important to ensure economic opportunity as well as nurture democracy in countries such as Egypt.

Peres told reporters that given the fast-moving events in the Middle East it was important for direct talks between Israelis and Palestinians to resume as quickly as possible. The US-brokered talks were halted last year when the Palestinians declined to continue after an Israeli freeze on settlement expansion expired.

In a nod to the tumult in Arab nations around Israel, Peres told reporters that Israel wanted to be a friend to the Muslim world, saying the regional unrest was more a clash of “generations” than of “civilizations.” WASHINGTON, Wednesday, AFP