French angry about talks absence

Agencies - No sooner was the US initiative on the Middle East announced than it hit criticism from one of America's allies, France.

Paris said a Middle East summit announced by Washington could be useful in the search for peace but regretted that no European leaders had been invited to attend.

"If the situation can pass from crisis to negotiations, this is positive ... and from this point of view, this meeting in Washington can be useful," French Foreign Minister Herve de Charette said on RTL television.

Asked how France and other European powers could contribute as they had not been invited to Washington, de Charette said: "That is certainly unfortunate. That is certainly not a positive step for things to go forward."

France has repeatedly offered to play a central role in the search for common ground between Israel and the Palestinians after violence last week in which nearly 70 people were killed.

Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny Primakov arrived in Morocco on Sunday for a 48-hour official visit, and said Israel should put an end to actions against Palestinians and respect the feelings of Muslims. He met King Hassan at the royal palace of Skhirat, 12 miles south of Rabat. Earlier he hailed a UN Security Council vote calling for the immediate resumption of the Middle East peace process. The United States abstained in the vote. The resolution, with the backing of the 14 other Security Council members, called for the safety and protection of Palestinian civilians to be ensured and for the immediate resumption of the Middle East peace process.