The international Quartet of Middle East peace mediators has urged Israel to freeze all settlement activity.

Speaking for the Quartet, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned Israel's announcement of plans to build new homes in disputed East Jerusalem. That move was criticised as undermining efforts to restart peace talks.

Speaking to the BBC, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton indicated that hardening the tone with Israel had paid off, with talks now back in prospect. Mr Ban met Mrs Clinton and the other Quartet foreign ministers - new EU foreign policy chief Baroness Ashton and Russia's Sergei Lavrov - in Moscow.

In a strongly worded statement, the Quartet condemned Israel's announcement last week of planning permission for 1,600 new homes in East Jerusalem, occupied by Israel since 1967.

Dear Sir or Madam,

Thank you again for your participation in the Arab Coalition for Darfur Civil Society Conference in Morocco last week. We enjoyed very interesting and informative meetings and lively discussions.  You have met my colleague Marwa El-Ansary from Crisis Action. She will get in touch with you individually later to carry on some of the discussions you had in Morocco, but as a matter of urgency we would like to publish the open letter from the Arab Civil Society organizations to the League of Arab States. As an achievement of the conference we would like to remind the Arab States of their crucial role in securing Sudan and Darfur’s peaceful future and of their responsibility to prevent a renewed conflict risking instability and further suffering, not only in Sudan but in the whole region.