RAMALLAH, April 18 (Xinhua) -- Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat called Tuesday on the international quartet to help implement the roadmap peace plan.

    Speaking to the Voice of Palestine, Erekat said that "it is time for the quartet to shoulder its responsibilities by ordering an international conference on resuming final-status talks between Palestine and Israel."

    The quartet, grouping the United Nations, the United States, Russia and the European Union, has been a long-time mediator over the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

    Erekat's call came one day after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced that the quartet will convene on May 9 in New York to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the situation in the Palestinian territories.

    The newly-formed Palestinian government led by Hamas rejects a key demand by the quartet to recognize Israel and honor previous agreements signed between Israel and the Palestinian National Authority.

    The Hamas cabinet took office on March 29 after Hamas won the Jan. 25 legislative election.

    But Israel, the European Union and the United States, which blacklisted Hamas as a terrorist organization, have boycotted the new government unless Hamas satisfies the demand.

    Hamas has refused the conditions despite heavy international pressure and described the EU and U.S. suspension of direct financial aid to the Hamas-led government as blackmail and a collective punishment for the Palestinian people's democratic choice. Enditem