AMMAN: A meeting of ministers from the Quartet sponsoring the Middle East peace process is being planned for early December in Jordan, a government source was quoted as saying yesterday.

Egypt and Saudi Arabia are also expected to attend the meeting "to discuss the possibility of reviving the Middle East peace process, particularly the Palestinian-Israeli track", the government daily Al-Rai quoted the unnamed source as saying.

"The meeting which is under preparations will focus on the ‘road map’ launched by the Quartet three years ago, which stipulates the creation of a Palestinian state side by side with Israel," the report said.

The talks could be held on December 1, an official source told the English-language Jordan Times, sister daily of Al-Rai newspaper.

The Quartet comprises the European Union, Russia, the UN and the US.

Three years ago it produced a so-called road map for peace, in which it spelled out steps to be taken toward the creation of a Palestinian state existing side by side with Israel. Both sides endorsed the road map, but virtually no progress has been made on implementing it.

The planned meeting would follow a regional tour last month by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana during which he held talks with Middle East leaders on ways to solve the Israeli-Palestinian crisis. - AFP