MOSCOW, July 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - France and Russia made a joint call Monday, July 8, for an international peace conference on the Middle East despite U.S. reluctance, as they reaffirmed their support for the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, whose country is part of the quartet of international mediators alongside Washington, the European Union and the United Nations, said an international push to end the violence was essential, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.

"Our positions on a settlement of the problem largely coincide. We will continue to coordinate our efforts to find a political solution," he told a press conference flanked by his French counterpart Dominique de Villepin.

"For such a settlement, the international community must make active efforts, including through holding an international conference," Ivanov added.

De Villepin said that the "tool for advancing" a peace settlement was the international conference, which was not mentioned in a keynote speech by U.S. President George W. Bush on June 24, 2002.

Saudi Arabia earlier this year launched its own peace initiative based on normal relations with the Arab world if Israel withdraws from all occupied land, a proposal adopted by an Arab summit in Beirut in March 2002, AFP said.

"The international conference offers the best framework, if it is well prepared and clear terms of reference are fixed," respecting UN resolutions, said de Villepin, who completed a Middle East tour at the weekend and is traveling to the United States on Wednesday, July 10.

Both foreign ministers reaffirmed that their countries consider Arafat as the legitimate leader of the Palestinian Authority, despite U.S. calls for his removal.

"Arafat is an elected representative and it is for the people themselves to decide who will represent them," de Villepin said.

"We will maintain our contacts with Arafat, who is the legitimate representative of the Palestinian Authority," Ivanov added.

In a major address on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the end of June, Bush called for Palestinians to get rid of what he called “their leaders compromised by terror" as a condition for U.S. support for an independent Palestinian state.