Ban Ki-moon to Run for Second Term as UN Chief Backed by Asia

South Korea’s Ban Ki-moon said he will run for a second five-year term as secretary-general of the United Nations, a bid that’s likely to result in his re-election within a month as Asia’s two biggest economies backed him.

“It has been an enormous privilege to lead this great organization,” Ban, 66, said yesterday at a news conference at UN headquarters in New York. “If supported by the member states, I would be deeply honored to serve once more.”

Ban said he expressed his intention in a letter to the governments of the 192 UN member nations and would meet with their envoys within the next two days. The Security Council would first vote to recommend his re-election and the General Assembly would then vote on whether to give him a second term that would begin on Jan. 1, 2012.

Ban is almost assured of re-election because Britain, China, France, Russia and the U.S., the five permanent members of the Security Council, have signaled their support and no opposition candidate has emerged. The eighth UN secretary general, Ban would be the fifth to win election to a second term.

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ban-ki-moon-to-seek-second-term-as-un-chief/article2048873/

Swiss freeze $81 million in assets linked to Gbagbo

Switzerland has frozen 70 million Swiss francs ($81 million) linked to former Ivory Coast president Laurent Gbagbo and his associates, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said on Thursday.

Gbagbo had refused to leave power after an election last November that U.N.-certified results showed he had lost.

Switzerland ordered his assets seized in January to prevent them being diverted before Ivory Coast could launch domestic criminal proceedings, the ministry's statement said.

The election victor, Alassane Ouattara, finally took control in April when his forces, backed by French and U.N. soldiers, captured Gbagbo after days of heavy fighting.

The funds are blocked for up to three years under the Swiss cabinet's order, pending a request from Ivory Coast for legal assistance, on the basis of its own criminal proceedings against Gbagbo.

Folco Galli, spokesman for the Swiss Justice Ministry, said no such request had been received yet.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/05/us-swiss-gbagbo-idUSTRE74467K20110505

UN, French forces attack Gbagbo's residence

BEIJING, April 11 (Xinhuanet) -- United Nations and French helicopters have reportedly fired missiles at the residence in Abidjan of Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo, who is holed up in a bunker.

UN officials say Sunday's airstrikes were a response to attacks by Gbagbo's forces in recent days on the UN mission's headquarters in Cote d'Ivoire and on civilians.

They say the helicopter attacks targeted Gbagbo's heavy weapons.

Gbagbo has been holed up in the bunker for the past week but his forces have stepped up their resistance.

A spokesman for Gbagbo's faction admitted the air strikes had partially destroyed their leader's residence,blaming France for what they called an assassination attempt.

The UN and French airstrikes came just a day after Gbagbo's fighters attacked the Golf Hotel, the headquarters of his presidential rival Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognized as the winner of last year's election.

Earlier in the day, French troops had helped evacuate citizens from neighborhoods across Abidjan, after Gbagbo's forces had fired at French helicopters.

As the military standoff dragged on in the capital, there are also fresh concerns about the tensions developing into deadly violence in the west of Cote d'Ivoire where dozens of bodies have been found in the past few days according to the UN.

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http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/video/2011-04/11/c_13823132.htm

Afghanistan: Ban Ki-moon condemns UN staff killings

The BBC's Paul Wood: "It shows how this issue really inflames passions"

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has condemned an attack on a UN building in Afghanistan as "outrageous and cowardly".

At least 12 people were killed when demonstrators torched the building in the city of Mazar-e Sharif.

Three UN workers and four Nepalese guards were among the dead.

Local officials said clerics had urged people to protest over last month's burning of a copy of the Koran in the presence of US pastor Terry Jones.

He has denied responsibility for the violence in Afghanistan.

Witnesses said the protest began peacefully but suddenly turned violent.

Several demonstrators were killed by guards, who were then overpowered by the mob.

A local police spokesman told the BBC that a number of people had subsequently been arrested.

Dan McNorton, spokesman for the UN mission in Afghanistan, said: "Three international Unama (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) staff members were killed, and four international armed security guards were killed."

Initial reports said eight foreign UN workers had died.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt later confirmed that one of the dead was a Swede, 27-year-old UN worker Joakim Dungel.

The Norwegian defence ministry said another of those killed was Lt Col Siri Skare, a 53-year-old female pilot. The other foreign victims are believed to be a Romanian and four Nepalese guards.

US President Barack Obama condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms", saying the work of the UN "is essential to building a stronger Afghanistan".

The top UN representative in Afghanistan, Staffan De Mistura, has flown to the area to handle the matter.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12944851

Palestinians to ask for UN recognition if peace talks fail, says Abbas

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has been dropping hints that he will leave his post in September should negotiations with Israel not resume by then, and should there be no agreement about the establishment of a Palestinian state.

During a meeting in Ramallah with members of the Council for Peace and Security (who include former top IDF officers ), Abbas declared that the PA intends to work toward the establishment of a Palestinian state, and to win Israeli recognition for such a state. However, he indicated, if no accord is reached between the two sides, and if serious talks do not resume, the PA will turn to the UN General Assembly in September and request recognition of an independent Palestinian state.

Asked about possible scenarios following such a UN vote, Abbas claimed he is deliberately maintaining ambiguity on this issue. Yet, he said, "should we return [from the United Nations] empty-handed, we will convene a meeting of the Palestinian leadership and decide what to do. We have autonomous rule, but we don't have independence. There is and isn't occupation. The [Israeli occupiers] can come at any moment. They can invade our territories. They can do anything. They can even stop me, as head of the PA, from going home."

"So what are we supposed to do?" he asked. "What should be our answer, if we have lost all hope? I can't respond to that."

Abbas reiterated that the PA will only turn to the UN General Assembly if it runs out of all other options.

"If you [Israelis] do not want negotiations, and don't want an accord, then what are we supposed to do?" he said. "We have imposed order and security here for the past four years, and things are stable now: There is law and order, the economy is progressing, life is normal everywhere in the West Bank. Please, you must take advantage of the opportunity to continue [with talks]. If [the Israelis] don't want [talks], then we will leave. We will leave."

When asked by Haaretz whether he means by these statements that the Palestinian Authority will be disassembled, Abbas responded that he did not say that. He clarified that under the present circumstances, the question "why continue this way" is asked repeatedly.

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http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/palestinians-to-ask-for-un-recognition-if-peace-talks-fail-says-abbas-1.353178

Ivory Coast: UN warns of forgotten humanitarian crisis

As the world focuses on Libya and Japan, UN aid agencies are warning that Ivory Coast is rapidly becoming a forgotten humanitarian catastrophe.

About 500,000 people have fled violence there - but a UN appeal for funds to help them has met with little response.

There has been fighting between forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, who is refusing to step down as president, and those of his rival, Alassane Ouattara.

The UN recognises Mr Ouattara as the winner of November's presidential poll.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12827243

Clinton: Arab resolution on Israeli settlements submitted to UN not helpful

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at the State Department in Washington

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict should be resolved through direct peace negotiations, not by submitting resolutions to the UN Security Council condemning Israeli settlements, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday.

The United States has opposed a move by Arab countries to bring a resolution condemning the settlement, but has not said it would use its veto to block passage.

Clinton told reporters the issue needs to be resolved through direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians, even as the United States has also condemned continued settlement construction.

"We dont see action in the United Nations or any other forum as being helpful in bringing about that desired outcome," she said, before adding that the United States is "working to keep the focus where we think it needs to be, and thats not in New York."

Early indications are the resolution, tabled on Wednesday had nearly unanimous support, but it likely will not come to a vote for a few weeks.

U.S.-brokered direct talks ended in September - just weeks after they began - when an Israeli moratorium on settlement building expired. The Palestinians have demanded a freeze as a condition for holding the negotiations.

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http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/clinton-arab-resolution-on-israeli-settlements-submitted-to-un-not-helpful-1.338303

Mobs in Ivory Coast Attack United Nations Vehicles

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast — Mobs loyal to Laurent Gbagbo, the president who refuses to give up power after losing an election, burned and stoned five United Nations vehicles on Thursday, including an ambulance, a United Nations spokesman said.

The attacks appeared to represent an escalation of Mr. Gbagbo’s campaign against the presence of nearly 10,000 United Nations troops here, assigned among other duties to protect the government of the man who defeated the incumbent in last November’s presidential election, Alassane Ouattara.

Mr. Gbagbo has demanded that the United Nations troops leave the country, the patrols have been fired on by men in uniform, and the state television station nightly broadcasts vitriolic attacks, asserting that the foreign troops are in league with rebel forces that control the northern half of the country.

The latest attacks occurred at improvised checkpoints manned by local youths who support Mr. Gbagbo, but the United Nations spokesman here said that some in the mob included men wearing the uniforms of government security forces. Two of the vehicles were burned, and three others were damaged, said the spokesman, Kenneth Blackman.

The crowd stoned the ambulance, injuring the head of the patient inside, he said.

Late Tuesday, a United Nations patrol was shot at in the Abobo neighborhood of Abidjan from both sides of the road — “ambushed,” Mr. Blackman said — during a Gbagbo security forces assault on the pro-Ouattara neighborhood. Some police officers were also killed in the assault.

“The attack on the ambulance is a bit shocking,” Mr. Blackman said. “Even where there is a war, no one targets ambulances. It goes against the principles of basic decency.”

In New York, the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, strongly condemned the latest attacks, saying they were “crimes under international law.”

Meanwhile, the United Nations human rights chief here reported “phenomena which elsewhere resulted in genocide,” according to the mission’s account of its weekly news conference in Abidjan. Among the “warning signs,” the United Nations said, were “signs that weapons are being distributed to civilians.”

In Geneva, Reuters reported that the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, expressed concern about the possible discovery of a new mass grave in Ivory Coast. Two others have already been reported; as at previously reported sites, government troops have blocked access by United Nations investigators.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/14/world/africa/14ivory.html

Jean blasts Haiti aid delays

A billboard calls for help on the road into Leogane, Haiti, the town at the epicentre of the January 2010 earthquake. Aid has been slow in reaching the people affected in the Caribbean nation.



Michaëlle Jean, Canada's former governor general and now a special UN envoy to Haiti, voiced her anger Tuesday at the slow rate of aid delivery, blasting the international community for abandoning its commitments.

In a public letter co-authored with Irina Bokova, the head of UNESCO, Jean expressed frustration at the slow pace of progress in rebuilding the country of her birth.

"As time passes, what began as a natural disaster is becoming a disgraceful reflection on the international community," said Jean.

Jean and Bokova write that more than a million people are still living amid rubble, in emergency camps and "in abject poverty" and that cholera has claimed thousands of lives.

"Official commitments have not been honoured. Only a minuscule portion of what was promised has been paid out. The Haitian people feel abandoned and disheartened by the slowness in which the rebuilding is taking place."

A year after she helped raise tens of thousands of dollars for Haiti earthquake relief, Martine St-Victor told CBC News she doesn't know where that money has gone.

"I was a bit frustrated at one point because I didn't know where the money was going," St-Victor, who lives in Montreal but has family in Haiti, told CBC's Laurie Graham on Tuesday. "I was afraid I was feeding bureaucracy instead of contributing to rebuilding the country."

Wednesday is the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that left an already impoverished Haiti in ruins.

Since the quake, the Canadian government has committed $550 million to Haiti. Canadians have raised another $220 million for a total of $770 million to help offer relief in the wake of a disaster that killed 200,000 people and left a million more homeless.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced where a portion of that money will be spent.

Canada's Minister of International Co-operation Beverley Oda announced several initiatives in Montreal on Tuesday aimed at helping Haitian recovery efforts on the eve of the first anniversary of the earthquake.

The announcement, totalling $93 million, includes a project to provide free, basic health services to three million people, the rebuilding of Haiti's midwifery school, new maternity beds and a pediatric ward.

"They're meaningful initiatives that will have a real impact on the lives of Haitians," said Oda.


But despite millions spent and allocated, aid workers in Haiti are still running into barriers on the ground delivering aid to those who need it. Speaking live from Haiti Tuesday on Power & Politics with Evan Solomon, Paul Hunter of CBC News said piles of rubble remain everywhere and almost a million people continue to live in tent cities

"I’m not going to say that I’ve not seen progress, that it looks exactly as it did a year ago. Progress is happening, but it's slow," Hunter reported. "Is there a lot of work still to be done? Absolutely."

The Red Cross alone has spent more than $100 million donated by individuals and organizations on emergency response efforts, getting people food, shelter and medical supplies. However, one year after the earthquake, the Red Cross said it is still dealing with basic crisis care.

"The thing that's complicated is that we are still in that emergency phase one year later," said Pam Aung Thin, the Red Cross's national director of public affairs and government relations. "In other situations, we have found that the emergency phase should be much shorter, and then you get on with the business of rebuilding."

According to Robert Fox, executive director of aid group OXFAM, extensive rebuilding should have started by now. But he said government and international agencies are moving too slowly and getting bogged down in bureaucracy.

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http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2011/01/11/haiti-aid-money-graham.html#ixzz1AnCs6Rx5

U.N. group warns of potential 'food price shock'

LONDON - The Food and Agricultural Organization said Wednesday that the world faces a "food price shock" after the agency's benchmark index of farm commodities prices shot up last month, exceeding the levels of the 2007-08 food crisis.

The warning from the U.N. body comes as inflation is becoming an increasing economic and political challenge in developing countries, including China and India, and is starting to emerge as a potential problem in developed nations.

Abdolreza Abbassian, a senior economist at the FAO in Rome, said that the increase was "alarming" but that the situation was not yet a crisis similar to 2007-08, when food riots affected more than 30 poor countries, including Haiti, Bangladesh and Egypt.

"The world faces a food price shock," he said, adding that a prolonged spike could lead to a food crisis.

The FAO said that its food price index - a basket tracking the wholesale cost of commodities such as wheat, corn, rice, vegetable oils, dairy products, sugar and meat - jumped to 214.7 points, exceeding the peak of 213.5 set in June 2008.

Abbassian said that agricultural commodities prices would probably rise further. "It will be foolish to assume this is the peak," he said.

But the FAO and food aid agencies noted the relatively stable prices for rice, one of the two most important agricultural commodities for global food security.

But the cost of wheat, the other critical staple, is rising quickly after poor harvests last year in Russia, Ukraine and elsewhere. Corn, meat and poultry prices are also increasing.


Agricultural officials and traders are worried that agricultural commodities prices could rise further as the weather phenomenon la Nina intensifies. The pattern usually brings dryness to key growing areas of the United States, Argentina and Brazil.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said that the current la Nina system would last at least three more months.

Neil Plummer, a climatologist for the bureau in Melbourne, said that the latest phenomenon looked set to be the most powerful since the mid-1970s, when droughts ravaged crops and pushed the world into the most extreme food crisis since World War II.


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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010506732.html

UN points to Ivory Coast 'extra-judicial killings'

The UN official investigating alleged abuses in Ivory Coast after a disputed election says he has evidence of extra-judicial killings.

Simon Munzu told the BBC his staff had verified some cases, while others were reported by families.

But he said a campaign of intimidation by incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo's supporters appeared to have receded.

Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga is travelling to Abidjan to help try and resolve a post-election stalemate.

Mr Gbagbo has so far refused demands from the world community to stand down in favour of his rival in the 28 November presidential polls, Alassane Ouattara, who is internationally recognised as the victor.

Mr Odinga, the African Union's representative, is due to travel from Nigeria - where he has held discussions with President Goodluck Jonathan - to meet Mr Gbagbo and Mr Ouattara.

He will join a mission from the West African regional group, Ecowas, including the presidents of Benin, Cape Verde and Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone's information minister, Ibrahim Ben-Kargbo, told the BBC the leaders will call on Mr Gbagbo to step down, and did not intend to negotiate with him.


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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12106183

Ivory Coast UN ambassador warns of genocide risk

Ivory Coast's newly appointed ambassador to the UN has warned the country is "on the brink of genocide".

In a TV interview, Youssoufou Bamba said there had been large scale violation of human rights as a result of the ongoing political unrest.

Laurent Gbagbo is refusing to step down despite his rival, Alassane Ouattara, being internationally accepted as the presidential election winner.

The UN has accused state media of inciting hatred against it.

Mr Gbagbo has said Mr Ouattara's victory in November was illegitimate. Both men have been sworn in as president.

Mr Bamba, who was appointed by Mr Ouattara, was formally welcomed at the UN's New York headquarters on Wednesday, solidifying UN support for Mr Ouattara.

At a press conference, Mr Bamba said Mr Ouattara had been elected in a "free, fair, transparent, democratic election".

"To me the debate is over, now you are talking about how and when Mr Gbagbo will leave office," he said.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12091738

UN condemns 'deplorable' Nigeria violence

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the "deplorable acts of violence" that left 38 people dead in Nigeria over Christmas.

Mr Ban conveyed condolences to the families of the victims and backed the government's vow to bring the perpetrators to justice.

The victims died in bomb blasts and an attack on churches in central Nigeria.

The area is a flashpoint between the mainly Muslim north and largely Christian south.

'Drastic measures'

Mr Ban said he was appalled by the acts of violence, especially as they happened at "a time when millions of Nigerians are celebrating religious holidays".

He said he "supported efforts by the Nigerian authorities to bring those responsible to justice".

Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan said: "I assure Nigerians that government will go to the root of this. We must unearth what caused it and those behind it must be brought to book."

Nigerian State Information Commissioner Gregory Yenlong said that "enemies of the state were at work" in the violence.

He appealed for people to remain calm, adding: "We expect drastic measures to be put in place - you can see how charged the atmosphere is."

African Union Commission chairman, Jean Ping, also expressed shock and sadness at the violence.

The main attacks were near the city of Jos and in the town of Maiduguri.

The unrest was triggered by explosions on Christmas Eve in villages near Jos.

The bomb attacks killed 32 people and left about 70 injured.

Reports said two bombs exploded near a large market. A third hit a mainly Christian area while the fourth was near a road leading to a mosque. No group has said it carried out the attacks.

About 30 attackers raided a church in Maiduguri, killing the pastor and others, and setting the building on fire.

Another church in the town was also attacked and a security guard killed, reports said.

Further violence between armed groups broke out in Jos on Sunday.

Witnesses said buildings were set alight and people were seen running for cover as police and soldiers arrived.

Jos has been blighted by religious violence over the past decade with deadly riots in 2001 and 2008.

The tensions stem from decades of resentment between indigenous groups and settlers from the north.

Correspondents say that although clashes are often blamed on sectarianism, poverty and access to land and other resources are often the root causes.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12081785

Arab Nations to Seek UN Pressure on Israel to Stop Settlement Construction

A Palestinian man is seen through a water pipe as he gestures while removing rubble after an Israeli air strike in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip December 21, 2010. Israel carried out a series of air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, Palestinian officials and witnesses said, after militants from the Hamas-ruled territory fired rockets into southern Israel.

Arab nations and the Palestinian Authority are set to ask the United Nations Security Council to demand that Israel halt settlement construction in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

A draft resolution demanding that Israel “immediately and completely ceases all settlement activities” was to be given to the Security Council’s 15 member governments late yesterday or today, Egyptian Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz said in an interview.

The Palestinian envoy to the UN, Riyad Mansour, said that U.S. diplomats told him that the Obama administration opposes having the Security Council take up a resolution on the settlements issue. The U.S. mission to the UN didn’t respond to a request for a public comment on the draft resolution.

“The only road to peace between Israel and the Palestinians is through direct negotiations,” Israel’s Ambassador Meron Reuben said yesterday in an e-mail. “Palestinian attempts to bypass this road only move us further away from returning to the negotiation table. We hope that the international community won’t allow these moves to divert both sides from reaching the real goal: peace and stability in our region.”

The Security Council move stems from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s instructions last month to Mansour to begin talks in New York on a draft resolution.

Mansour said in an interview that the text was being distributed now so that Security Council members could study it over the next 10 days before formal talks are held in January. He said about 35 nations have agreed to co-sponsor the draft, which also condemns the continuation of settlement activity as illegal and a “major obstacle” to peace.

‘No Movement’

“We have to move on this track because there is no movement on any front,” Abdelaziz said. “We have a crisis situation. The Israelis have rejected the American proposal for a settlement freeze and they continue every day with settlement activity.”

The U.S. decided early this month to stop pressuring Israel to renew a moratorium on West Bank settlement construction. Palestinians refused to return to talks without an extension of the freeze, which expired in September.

The Arabs may have up to 14 votes for the draft resolution in the 15-member Security Council, and recognize that the measure would probably be defeated by a U.S. veto, said Ibrahim Dabbashi, Libya’s deputy ambassador to the UN.

“If it gets 14 votes, they will put it to a vote,” Dabbashi said. “We know finally it will not pass.”

Libya introduced a similar draft resolution when it had a seat on the Security Council two years ago, but didn’t put the text to a vote.

“The situation is different now,” Dabbashi said. “Now there is practically no peace process. It is at a standstill. At the time, there was not an overwhelming majority to put it to a vote. It was not only the U.S. This time we feel it should have 14 votes.”

New Members

Abdelaziz said the entry of India and South Africa onto the Security Council as non-permanent members on Jan. 1 will create a body that will be “much in favor of movement” on the draft. The U.S., he said, might abstain rather than veto.

“Are the Americans even a little bit offended that the Israelis are brushing them aside all the time?” Abdelaziz said. “We will ask them to abstain.”

He said the Arabs haven’t received any signal from the Obama administration that abstention was a possibility.

About 500,000 Jews have moved to the West Bank and Jerusalem since Israel captured the territories in the 1967 Middle East war. The UN says the settlements are illegal, and the International Committee of the Red Cross says they breach the Fourth Geneva Convention governing actions on occupied territory.

Israel says the settlements don’t fall under the convention because the territory wasn’t recognized as belonging to any country before the 1967 war, in which Israel prevailed, and therefore isn’t occupied.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-22/arabs-to-seek-un-demand-for-end-to-israeli-settlement-building.html

Ban Ki-moon says regrets continued W. Bank building

UN Sec.-Gen. urges Israel to "fulfill its Road map obligation to freeze all settlement activity"; says encouraged by determination of US efforts.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed regret that "Israel will not heed the united call of the international community...to extend the settlement restraint policy," in a statement issued by his spokesman early Thursday morning.

In the statement, Ki-moon reiterated his "urging Israel to fulfill its Road map obligation to freeze all settlement activity in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem."

The spokesman continued, "In spite of this setback, the secretary-general believes it is more important than ever to promote a negotiated end-game for a two-State solution."

Ki-moon added that he "is encouraged that the United States has indicated its determination to continue its efforts in this direction and he urges the full cooperation of the parties towards that end." The secretary-general, the statement noted, "is looking forward to these matters being discussed in the days to come among all members of the Quartet."

The US earlier this week, announced that it was giving up on securing an extended settlement freeze as a move to bring the two parties back to the negotiating table. Israel has resisted calls to implement an additional West Bank building moratorium and the Palestinians have said they will not return to direct negotiations without a freeze in place.

Washington said its new approach on the Israeli- Palestinian peace process will be to focus on the final-status issues.

“We’re going to focus on the substance and try to make progress on the core issues themselves. We think that will create the kind of momentum we need to get to sustained and meaningful negotiations,” US State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday.

“I would describe this as a change in tactics rather than a change in strategy. It’s not a change of our objectives at all,” he said.

He said that he didn’t anticipate the Israelis and Palestinians meeting together in Washington in the coming days, but avoided characterizing the process as returning to the proximity talks that were held before the launch of direct talks.

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http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=198659