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UN chief visits Ramallah on trip to Mideast
On a visit Saturday to the West Bank city of Ramallah, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for both Israelis and Palestinians to restart talks with "sincerity and flexibility" and to build on progress made before the talks stalled more than a year ago.
Ban Ki-moon meets Prime Minister Fayyad
Mr. Ban arrived in the Middle East after attending a meeting of the Quartet in Moscow. The Quartet - made up of the UN, the United States, Russia and the European Union - called for a resumption of the talks with the aim of reaching a settlement within two years.
In Ramallah, the Secretary-General met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad who took him to see Area C, a large area of West Bank territory under Israeli control and off-limits to Palestinian development.
Sec-Gen: I can see how much difficulty you are having all this Area C, 60 per cent of your land that you are not able to develop and people are living in strict restrictions, this is unacceptable.
Mr. Ban said the Quartet had sent out a clear and strong message that they are supporting the Palestinian Authority's efforts to establish an independent and viable Palestinian state. At the same time, he said, the Quartet had strongly condemned Israeli plans to build 1,600 new housing units in East Jerusalem.
The Secretary-General said he was concerned about the difficult humanitarian situation in both the West Bank and Gaza. He said the approval by the Israeli authorities of UN humanitarian projects in the Occupied Palestinian Territories was a positive first step, but more needed to be done.
Diane Bailey, United Nations
Duration: 1'45
