MIDDLE EAST: The Saudi peace proposal will not be presented to the Arab summit at the end of this month if Israel refuses to allow the Palestinian President, Mr Yasser Arafat, to attend, a senior Palestinian official said yesterday.
The Palestinian Minister for International Co-operation, Mr Nabil Shaath, also said Crown Prince Abdullah had pledged $50 million for the cash-strapped Palestine Authority.
The Arab League Secretary General, Mr Amr Moussa, visited Riyadh yesterday to discuss how to transform the proposal into a pan-Arab initiative. The plan calls for "full normalisation" with Israel in exchange for "full withdrawal" from territory occupied in 1967. On Sunday Mr Moussa met the Libyan leader, Gen Muammar Gadafy, and convinced him not to reject the Saudi plan or quit the league.
The Syrian President, Dr Bashar al-Assad, is scheduled to meet the Saudi crown prince today to present his reservations on the proposal. On Sunday Dr Assad and the Lebanese President, Mr Emile Lahoud, issued a joint call for the Saudis to include references to the "right of return of Palestinian refugees, dismantling of all Jewish settlements and the creation of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Jerusalem .
