NEW YORK, May 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The quartet of Middle East peace brokers called for a negotiated settlement to the final status issues of Palestinian refugees and borders.

"Any final settlement on issues such as borders and refugees can only be resolved through negotiation and agreement," read a statement by the group after a New York meeting on Tuesday, May 4, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The meeting brought together U.N. chief Kofi Annan, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and top E.U. diplomat Javier Solana.

This contradicted U.S. President George Bush’s written guarantees to Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon that Israel could be allowed to keep parts of the occupied West Bank and that Palestinian refugees should not be allowed to their homes inside what is now Israel.

The quartet reaffirmed in its statement that the final-status issues – including that of the refugees and borders - are to be handled only through bilateral negotiations under the roadmap.

The internationally-backed blueprint envisages the establishment of a Palestinian state on the West Bank and the Gaza Strip by 2005 living side by side with Israel.

The four officials sought to revive the roadmap by endorsing Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip while trying to reassure the Palestinians that any final settlement would be negotiated.

The quartet members threw their support behind Sharon's plan, though it was rejected by his own right-wing Likud party in a weekend referendum.

"The quartet welcomes and encourages such a step, which should provide a rare moment of opportunity in the search for peace in the Middle East," said the statement.

"This initiative, which must bring about a full Israeli withdrawal and complete end of occupation in Gaza, can be a step towards achieving the two-state vision," it added.

Assurances

Powell hoped the quartet statement would assuage Arab concerns that Bush had given away two of the Palestinians' strongest bargaining chips in endorsing the Sharon plan.

"I think that the statement we have made today on behalf of the quartet... is some assurance to the Arab world and to the whole world that we are committed to the basis upon which the peace process rests," he said.

"We are in conversations with our other Arab friends to see what assurances and comments they may need from us to make sure that they know that the president has not abandoned them," Powell told reporters.

No Guarantees

But U.S. National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice told Aljazeera there would be no guarantees from Bush to Arabs.

It was unclear whether Bush would give written assurances to Jordan's King Abdullah when they meet on Thursday, May 6, that such final status issues must be decided in negotiations.

U.S. officials said they were reluctant to provide a letter that might be seen as backing away from Bush's assurances to Sharon, Reuters said.

One official suggested a face-saving compromise might be a statement short of a letter that reaffirms the view that the parties must decide sensitive issues in negotiation, it added.

The Bush administration came under fire after the president's statements that it was jeopardizing its relations with the Arab world and its position as neutral peace broker.

"Your unqualified support of Sharon's extra-judicial assassinations, Israel's Berlin Wall-like barrier, its harsh military measures in occupied territories and now your endorsement of Sharon's unilateral plan are costing our country its credibility, prestige and friends," read a letter signed by dozens of former U.S. diplomats and sent to the White House Tuesday.