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Palestinian state can be negotiated in one year

UNITED NATIONS — Israeli-Palestinian peace talks on a treaty establishing an independent Palestinian state can be wrapped in one year, the Middle East diplomatic quartet said Friday.

In a statement, the Quartet - the European Union, the United Nations, the United States and Russia — said its members reaffirmed strong support for direct negotiations between the parties, “which can be completed within one year.”

It called on Israelis and Palestinians to launch direct talks in Washington on September 2 “to resolve all final status issues and fulfill the aspirations of both parties.”

In Washington, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton issued a similar invitation.

The Quartet said “direct, bilateral negotiations that resolve all final status issues” should “lead to a settlement, negotiated between the parties, that ends the occupation which began in 1967 and results in the emergence of an independent, democratic, and viable Palestinian state living side by side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors.”

Final status issues include the status of Jerusalem, border demarcation and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

The Quartet called on Israel and the Palestinians “to observe calm and restraint, and to refrain from provocative actions and inflammatory rhetoric.”

Quartet principals plan to meet with their colleagues from the Arab League in September in New York to review the situation, the statement said.