UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan vowed on Monday to do whatever it takes to get the Middle East roadmap peace plan back on track, days after an attack by Palestinian militants on Israeli civilians triggered a new round of violence.
"I think all the members of the quartet are worried about this latest development," he told reporters in New York, referring to the sponsors of the roadmap -- the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States.
The plan calls for parallel and reciprocal steps by both sides leading to two States living in peace by the end of 2005. But it has been shelved not long after it was introduced in 2003.
"We were all hopeful that there was a new opening, a new opportunity that should be exploited to reenergize the process, and we are all going to do whatever we can with both sides to get the process back on track, and to give the new Palestinian authority as much help as we can with its own reform process, and particularly the restructuring of the security forces," Annan said.
Only last Thursday, UN Under-Secretary-General Kieran Prendergast told the Security Council there was "a palpable sense of expectation of real, substantial and sustainable change in the region" after the election of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
But hours later Palestinian militants killed six Israelis at the Gaza border, prompting the Israeli government to cut off all contacts with the Palestinians and to retaliate by launching military incursions into the Gaza Strip.