STOCKHOLM, Oct 25: Winner of the Nobel peace prize Martti Ahtisaari said on Saturday it was a disgrace that the international community had not managed to resolve the conflict in the Middle East, blaming the failure on a lack of political will.

In an interview with Swedish Radio, Ahtisaari said he was ashamed that neither Europe nor the US had reached a solution yet. “How can we, year after year, seriously say that we are trying to reach a solution when we aren’t?” he asked.

“I’m ashamed, I have to admit that.”

The broadcaster also quoted him as saying he hoped the next US president would use his first year in office to try to find a permanent solution in the Middle East. “If the political will is there, we can solve anything.

“It is clear a Palestinian state is needed,” Ahtisaari said. The Israelis need to be guaranteed peace, he said.

“If people would sit down and negotiate we would quickly reach a plan,” he said.

A former Finnish president and an international peacemaker, Ahtisaari won the 2008 peace prize for three decades of efforts to resolve conflicts around the world.

In the interview, Ahtisaari also criticised the western boycott of the Palestinian group Hamas.—AP