Israeli settlement obstacle to peace

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband stressed on Tuesday that Israeli settlement activities are "illegal" and obstacles to peace.

The visiting British official made these remarks during a press conference on Tuesday, during which he underlined the need to build trust between parties involved in the stalled peace process.

Peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis came to an end earlier this year following the election of the right-wing Israeli government, which rejected to acknowledge the right of the Palestinians and repeatedly defied U.S. and international calls to freeze settlement activities.

The Palestinians set halting settlement activities as a precondition for the resumption of the peace talks.

Earlier on Tuesday, King Abdullah II of Jordan met with Miliband, and they looked into efforts to overcome obstacles against launching Palestinian-Israeli peace talks, the Jordan NewsAgency Petra reported.

The Jordanian leader urged the international community to act "swiftly and effectively" to attain peace via creating a "suitable environment" for peace talks.

The king renewed his call on the international community to exercise pressure on Israel to stop settlement activities.

Source: Xinhua