World
Rourà sent to the diplomatic quarter as eastern talks stall
The Foreign Minister's envoy carries a brief shaped by a proposal the Cardenal has called wholly inadequate.
By V. Aldama·2 min read
Continued — see The Thread: eastern-ceasefire →
Crown Councillor Esteban Rourà was dispatched on Saturday to Almaria Vella's diplomatic quarter for emergency consultations with the ambassadors of two regional powers, after back-channel negotiations over the eastern-basin dispute were reported to have stalled. The mission was confirmed by senior officials at the Foreign Ministry, who declined to name the parties.
Foreign Minister Cardenal Marín, in a written communication issued through his office on Friday and reaffirmed yesterday, called the most recent proposal from one of the parties "wholly inadequate and inconsistent with the spirit of dialogue," and urged a return to the table before the summit scheduled in Cordoba next month.
The destroyer placed on standby near the Strait of Vella earlier in the week remains there. Officers familiar with the disposition describe the posture as unchanged; the Naval Command issued no further statement on Saturday. The corridor surcharges that brought the Fuel Stabilisation Reserve to Monday's floor derive, by the Government's own analysis, from the same instability the Councillor has been sent to address.
The Cardenal will preside at Sant Joan this morning. Intercessions are scheduled for the Poniente contacts, the four of Llevant, the eleven of the Passeig and the three correspondents named in his pastoral statement of Friday last. The names of the parties to the eastern dispute will not, by the customary form of the office, be spoken from the altar.
