EU, ME ministers upbeat about peace prospects

Israeli, Arab and European Union foreign ministers were unanimously upbeat about Middle East peace prospects Tuesday after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert reached out to Palestinians and a Gaza cease-fire took hold. Ending two days of talks chaired by Finland, the meeting issued a joint statement in which Israel and its neighbors agreed in broad terms how to move forward to peace. They said a "just, comprehensive and lasting solution" to the Arab-Israeli conflict lies in a Palestinian state living side-by-side, and in peace, with Israel as foreseen in the "road map" plan of the so-called Quartet of EU, the United States, Russia and the United Nations.