Arab states plan to send a strongly worded message to the United States that its interests in the Arab world are at risk if it does not stop Israeli attacks on Palestinians, a Saudi newspaper reported today.
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Mr Yasser Arafat greets his supporters in Ramallah
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The Arabic-language
al-Watan
quoted what it described as a high-ranking Jordanian source as saying that King Abdullah, now visiting Saudi Arabia, will carry the message to US President Mr George W. Bush when he visits Washington this week.
"It will be an Arab message, particularly a Saudi one, that US interests and relations with the Arab states will be in danger if Washington did not try to end Israel's terrorist policy in the region," the paper quoted the Jordanian source as saying.
It said that in their talks in Riyadh, the Jordanian and Saudi leaders agreed on the need to exert joint efforts to end the suffering of the Palestinian people and lift a siege imposed by Israel on Palestinian President Mr Yasser Arafat.
Mr Arafat has been confined by Israeli tanks to his office in the West Bank town of Ramallah since December, following suicide attacks inside Israel.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Mr Marwan al-Muasher said yesterday that King Abdullah plans to explain to Mr Bush the danger of talking about suspending the peace process or contacts with the Palestinian Authority.
Oil-rich Saudi Arabia, a key regional ally of the United States, has repeatedly urged Mr Bush to push Israel to help end 16 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.
But the Bush administration has been taking an increasingly tough line against Mr Arafat in recent days, drawing praise from Israel and a call for US sanctions against the Palestinian leadership.