The Palestinian Authority complained Saturday that Middle East Quartet had failed to take a strong stance on Israel's settlement policy during its meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, dpa reported.
The quartet - the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations - met to discuss the latest in the Palestinian-Israeli peace process, stalled since September after Israel had refused to extend a 10-month long moratorium on settlement construction in the Palestinian territories.
Presidential spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement that the quartet "should take a strong stand from settlements so that we can return to negotiations."
The Palestinians insist that Israel must stop all settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem before resuming negotiations - and want an international position supporting their demand.
While the quartet said that it had considered the implications of recent events in Egypt and elsewhere in the region on Arab-Israeli peace, Abu Rudeineh said that "continuation of the crisis in the Middle East is linked to the ongoing Israeli occupation of the Palestinian and Arab land."
He added that the PA welcomed calls by the quartet to hold separate meetings with Palestinian and Israeli negotiators in Brussels before a scheduled mid-March quartet meeting at the level of principals.
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