Clinton pursues Mideast peace efforts in Morocco

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has arrived in the Moroccan city of Marrakesh as part of her diplomatic mission to relaunch the stalled Middle East peace process.

AFP - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived Sunday in the Moroccan city of Marrakech on the next stop in her diplomatic mission to relaunch the stalled Middle East peace process.
   
In Marrakech the US top diplomat is scheduled to meet on Monday and Tuesday with her Arab counterparts attending the sixth Forum for the Future, jointly organised by Morocco and Italy.
   
Clinton travelled to the northwest African country after talks in the Middle East with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
   
The United States is pushing both sides to resume peace negotiations which were suspended after the Israeli offensive against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip last December and January.
   
The situation in the Middle East and the dialogue between the West and the Islamic world will be the two main themes at a dinner debate at the Forum on Monday evening.
   
The Forum for the Future is a joint initiative between the Group of Eight industrial powers and some 20 countries in the Middle East and North Africa, along with the European Commission and the Arab League.
   
The idea of an annual meeting was developed at a G8 summit in 2004. The G8 powers - Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States - wanted to encourge reforms and an open, informal dialogue with countries in the Middle East and northern Africa.

Date created : 2009-11-01