ROME: US Secretary of State John Kerry Thursday hosted talks with special Middle East envoy Tony Blair as he seeks to find a way to resume the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.
The two men met privately for more than two hours in the US ambassador's residence in Rome, after Kerry also talked earlier in the day with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh.
"For 30 years or so there has been a pent-up demand to try to resolve the issues of the Middle East and it is clear when left to a vacuum or when left to delay, bad things happen, things happen that work against the possibilities of peace," Kerry earlier told a press conference after meeting with his Italian counterpart Emma Bonino.
"People who are denied peace can ultimately find other means to try to satisfy their aspirations."
On Wednesday, Kerry also met in Rome with Israeli Justice Minister Tzipi Livni as he pursues efforts to kickstart the talks stalled since 2010.
Bonino said the Italian government was very pleased that "Rome is becoming a diplomatic crossroads" and praised Kerry's "tenacity in trying to open up any different avenues" in the search for new peace efforts.
Kerry told reporters that he believed both Israel and the Palestinians were serious about peace.
"Israel needs guarantees for security, the Palestinians need guarantees for a state that they can be proud of, that is a contiguous state," he said.
But he cautioned again that the efforts would be kept private to give everyone the chance "to make tough judgements in their own appropriate space."
"This has gone on for a long time, and the impatience level is building up in many places with all of the respective dangers attached to that," he warned.
<Center><b><i>Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2013</b></i></center>
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