EGYPT: Arab foreign ministers opened talks in the Egyptian capital yesterday to examine a Saudi peace initiative for the Middle East, set against a dramatic escalation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Egypt's Mr Ahmed Maher, the head of the PLO political department, Mr Farouk Kaddoumi, and the Palestinian international co- operation minister, Mr Nabil Shaath, were among 17 ministers and other representatives from all 22 members of the Arab League attending the meeting.
The Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, blockaded by Israeli forces in Ramallah since early December, and the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, are to contact the delegates by telephone, Mr Maher said.
Ministers met informally in groups before entering into preparatory meetings for the conference which continues today and tomorrow. "We want all Arab ministers meeting in Cairo to contact the United States and Europe to put a stop to this barbarous Israeli aggression," Mr Shaath said.
The main item on the agenda is an initiative proposed by Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia offering Arab normalisation with Israel in return for Israel's full withdrawal from lands seized in 1967. The foreign ministers are to shape the Saudi initiative into a resolution to be submitted to Arab heads of state at their summit on March 27th and 28th in Beirut.
The initiative has steadily been picking up international support, and both the US and the EU now back the proposal. Some Arab countries, however, have been harder to convince. After initially withholding comment, Syria on Wednesday announced its support, but added that Middle East peace should include the right of return of Palestinian refugees, a position on which Saudi Arabia gave its backing.
Saudi Arabia's peace initiative for the Middle East should be seen in tandem with the Mitchell and Tenet plans aimed at halting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Jordan's Foreign Minister, Mr Marwan Moasher, said yesterday.
"The Saudi initiative does not constitute a detailed plan. It is a declaration of principle and a message to the international community that the Arab world wants peace based on the restitution of Arab rights," Mr Moasher said. This initiative "does not mean that we do not need measures on the ground to calm the situation," he added.