国际英语新闻：Palestinians welcome Quartet call to extend settlement freeze

RAMALLAH, Sept. 22 (Xinhua) -- A Palestinian official on Wednesday welcomed an international call on Israel to extend a temporary moratorium on Jewish settlement constructions to keep fresh peace talks going on.

Ghassan Al-Shak'a, a member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Executive Committee also demanded the Quartet of Middle East peace mediators to play a bigger "active role in pressuring Israel."

The Quartet's call "is welcomed and is considered an objective position to secure the continuation of the negotiations," he said.

The 10-month partial freeze on settlement expansions in the West Bank is due to expire on Sept. 26 and "if not renewed would put the peace talks, which the Obama administration brokered earlier this month, at risk.

The Quartet, comprising the United states, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, Tuesday met on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly meetings in New York and urged Israel and the Palestinians to continue their negotiations "in a constructive manner."

For the Palestinians, the Quartet's role in the peace talks " has only been consultative," according to Al-Shak'a, who said that the international body should lead "an active role and seriously pressure on Israel to commit to making progress in the negotiations instead of putting obstacles on their way."