UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will be...

The Israeli foreign ministry on Monday said Ban and the European Union"s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, were given permission to enter the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. As a rule, the UN Secretary General"s plans are usually not revealed so far in advance due to security reasons.

"The Secretary-General is expected to visit Israel, the West Bank and Gaza following his attendance at the Quartet meeting scheduled on the 19th of March in Moscow. And we"ll get back to you with more details when we have them," Martin Nesirki said at a briefing in New York.

Russia, along with the UN, the United States and European Union, comprises part of the Middle East Quartet of intermediaries for peace efforts. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and EU Foreign Policy chief Catherine Ashton are scheduled to attend the March 19 meeting in Moscow.

Talks between Israel and the Palestinian National

Pages: [1] 2