NATO chief: Israel-Palestinian talks must resume given 'new dynamic' in Mideast

            NATO's secretary-general on Wednesday urged a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks amid the "new dynamic" in the region. Speaking to the annual security conference in Herzliya, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said a resumption of the negotiations was vital to regional peace and security. He offered NATO's peacekeeping services to Israelis and Palestinians if both sides requested it as part of a future peace treaty. "We do not have all the time in the world," Rasmussen warned. "There is a new dynamic in the region. We must seize the opportunity to build on it." Short lived peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, led by the United States, broke down in September after a moratorium on West Bank settlement building expired. Palestinians have refused to return to the negotiating table until a similar moratorium on settlement building in the West Bank and East Jerusalem is reinstated. The secretary-general also spoke about the volatile uprisings in Egypt, saying that it's vital for Egypt to remain a moderate force in the region. "For almost 30 years Egypt has played a key moderating role in the region," said the head of the alliance of 28 North American and European member states. "It is important for all of us that it remains a force for peace and stability." "I don't have illusions about NATO 's role about providing security in the region," he told the conference participants. "NATO cannot solve all the problems and it never intended to do so." Stability and prosperity could only come from within the region, he said, but added that pending a comprehensive Middle East peace settlement, this seemed "almost Utopia." (22,00)