US: Mideast quartet to meet by Weekend

The United States said that it expects the Mideast Four Quartet to meet by the weekend in a bid to bring the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. The United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations called September 23 for the Palestinians and Israel to resume direct peace talks within a month and commit to seeking a deal by the end of 2012. US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Washington expects "a Quartet meeting some time by the end of this week or on the weekend, to try to see what we can all do to encourage the two sides to come back to the table." "We continue to believe that the Quartet has put forward a good timetable, an appropriate roadmap for these parties to begin working directly together." The United States also believes "that that is the best way to get down to brass tacks and try to get to a Palestinian state living in peace with Israel," Nuland said.