RIYADH, Sept 5: The Danish foreign minister Per Stig Moeller, who presented the roadmap of a EU Middle East peace draft to the governments of the region, has said the new European peace initiative would help the United States, the EU, Russia and the United Nations, generally referred to as the quartet on the Middle East, shape efforts to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Mr Moeller, whose country took over the rotating presidency of the European Union on July 1, said the (EU Peace) initiative would probably undergo some changes in the light of his discussions with the leaders in the region. “It is not a final document, it is an input for the quartet,” he clarified. He reached Egypt after visiting Saudi Arabia and meeting the GCC foreign ministers’ here on the sidelines of the GCC Foreign Ministers’ meeting here. He later also met the Israeli Prime Minister and the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The EU document said Israeli-Palestinian negotiations leading to an agreement would take place under the auspices of the four main players, alongside three moderate Arab countries, Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.

The US expects the quartet to meet at a senior level in New York on Sept 16, four days after Secretary Colin Powell is to give a major speech on US policy in the region. Representatives of the quartet are to gather on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly to continue their discussions on the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts officials were quoted as saying.

In view of the US stand on the Middle East conflict, perceived here as biased towards Israel, the Arab governments have long been arguing for a more extensive role for the EU in any Arab-Israel peace initiative.

Egyptian foreign minister Ahmad Maher after meeting with the EU delegate said, “this (EU) paper contains very positive elements but it has to be discussed by the quartet”.