UNITED NATIONS, July 17: The European Union and the Arab nations did not endorse the new US policy in the Middle East based on isolating Palestinian President Yasser Arafat and setting security for Israelis as a primary precondition for progress towards peace.

After the first high-level consultations of the Middle East “quartet” since President George W. Bush reversed policy on June 24, the United States stood isolated on crucial issues.

The meeting was presided over by US Secretary of State Colin Powell.

The envoys of the European Union, Russia, the United Nations, Egypt and Jordan disagreed publicly with US Secretary of State Colin Powell on relations with Arafat and on whether Palestinians alone can end Middle East violence.

However, after more than two hours of talks on the situation in the Middle East, the members of the diplomatic “quartet” — the United Nations, United States, Russian Federation and European Union — said they were committed to backing reform efforts initiated by Palestinian Authority and called on Israel to take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable Palestinian State.

In a communique read to the press after the meeting in New York, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the quartet strongly supported the goal of a final Israeli-Palestinian settlement, as expressed in a statement last month by US President George W. Bush, and agreed that with an intensive effort on security and reform by all, this could be reached within three years.

“We remain committed to implementing the vision of two States, Israel and an independent, viable and democratic Palestine, living side by side in peace and security,” Mr Annan said.

He said the quartet pledged all its efforts to realise the goals of reform, security and peace, reaffirming “that these efforts in the political, security, economic, humanitarian, and institution-building fields must proceed together, hand-in-hand.”

The quartet also welcomed “the strong Palestinian interest in reform, including the Palestinian 100-Day Reform Programme, as well as the willingness of regional states and the international community to assist the Palestinians to build institutions of good government and democracy, in preparation for statehood,” Annan said.

As for Israel, the UN Chief said that the quartet noted that country’s “vital stake” lay in the success of Palestinian reform and called on it to take concrete steps to support the emergence of a viable Palestinian State.