Posted on 03/10/2002 4:20:23 AM PST by kattracks
SHARM EL SHEIK, Egypt, Mar 10, 2002 (AP WorldStream via COMTEX) -- Saudi Arabia's foreign minister offered Israel "complete peace from Arab nations" in exchange for Israeli withdrawal from Arab lands and the creation of an independent Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal, speaking to reporters after meeting for an hour Sunday with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, offered the most detailed Saudi comments on the kingdom's overture to Israel since it was first made public last month by Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in a newspaper interview. Al-Faisal also is the highest-ranking Saudi to publicly address the initiative since then.
The push for peace has taken on great urgency in recent days as deaths in Palestinian-Israeli violence mount. But the Saudi initiative has been criticized by some Arabs, raising the possibility it will be altered before being formally presented to such an extent that the Israelis will reject it or deem it irrelevant.
Egypt and other influential Arab moderates have welcomed the Saudi proposal as at least a basis for peacemaking. Al-Faisal said his kingdom would formally present the proposal at an Arab summit in Beirut, Lebanon at the end of this month.
"Arab nations stress their intention to realize a lasting and comprehensive peace but at the same time Israel must show its good faith toward peace," al-Faisal said Sunday.
He called on Israel to withdraw from Arab territory captured in war and grant "the legitimate rights of the Palestinians, including the creation of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital. If it does that it will be met with complete peace from Arab nations."
Al-Faisal said Abdullah and Mubarak have spoken at length on the initiative and both sides shared alarm at "Palestinian bloodshed."
During the past week, at least 114 Palestinians and 36 Israelis have died - the highest toll during any week since the conflict erupted. The week also saw the largest number of fatalities in a single day, 45 on Friday.
Al-Faisal did not elaborate on the peace initiative or say whether a written draft had been prepared or whether it referred to the sticky issue of Palestinian refugees.
Last week, Palestinian Planning Minister Nabil Shaath said an emerging draft referred to U.N. resolution 194, which says Palestinian refugees should be allowed to return to their homes or receive compensation for their losses. The refugee question has derailed previous peace efforts because Israel fears the return of Palestinians to what is now Israel would destroy the state's Jewish character.
Al-Faisal did not answer directly when asked whether the Saudi peace proposal would be submitted if the Israelis kept Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat from attending the Beirut summit, but strongly indicated it would, saying the plan "is for the benefit of Palestine."
Palestinian officials have said the Saudis told them that the peace initiative would be presented at the Arab summit only if Arafat was there. Arafat has been confined to the West Bank town of Ramallah since December, and Israel has said it would lift the travel ban only if Arafat tries to curb attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli civilians.
The Saudi initiative has won the support of heavyweight Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Syria, though Syria has said the refugee issue must be addressed. At an Arab League foreign minister's meeting Saturday in Cairo, Libya criticized the proposals, calling on Arabs to increase support for the Palestinian uprising.
"I think those who were betting on the possibility of a solution with Israel have failed," Libyan diplomat Ali Abd al-Salam al-Turiki said Sunday in Cairo. "There is no possibility for such a solution. There is ongoing war. We have to take practical measures."
Al-Turiki said a boycott of Israel could be among the measures taken. Arab attempts to revive economic campaigns against Israel have faltered in recent years as moderate Arabs states, including some in the Gulf, opened low-level trade ties with Israel.
Amid the disagreements, the Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo was wrapping up Sunday without a formal statement on the Saudi initiative, according to Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa. Al-Sharaa said no initiative would come out of the Arab summit "that Syria has reservations about."
Israel has shown interest in the Saudi initiative, though it rejects any full withdrawal from territories it seized in the 1967 Mideast war. The United States has called the ideas positive. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is to discuss them when he comes to the region this week.
By HAMZA HENDAWI Associated Press Writer
Copyright 2002 Associated Press, All rights reserved
These Arabs are a complete joke and what they SAY should be completely disregarded.
Don't they consider all of what is Israel to be Arab lands?
What makes you think their mantra of "drive them into the sea" will change?
Arabs hated Jews long before Israel was established. Most of them would say "I have no problem with a Jewish state, in Alaska".
If Israel actually accepted this tired old offer, it would change nothing -- other than to set the stage for a repeat of the 1967 war, of course. The Arabs want a "do-over" because they lost that war despite how nearly indefensible the pre-1967 borders were. Their track record is clear and consistent enough already; bending over one more time will not gain Israel any respect in the Middle East.
Imal
Dont do it Israel.
If Saudi has that much influence over all the Arab nations then they are part of the terrorism problem. Why don't they offer to stop terrorism from all Arab nations?
This is a sham. The Arabs consider all of Israel to be Arab land, and their idea of "complete peace" with Israel is for the Israelis to go away. To Palm Beach, New York, Hell, it doesn't matter.
But of course, the fools in the media will trumpet this as groundbreaking and, as surely as the sun rises in the morning, will denounce Ariel Sharon for rejecting such a generous offer. Then again, the liberals fail to appreciate the fact that if the Jews ever left the Middle East, the Arabs would go right back to cutting their own throats.
By JACK KATZENELL, Associated Press Writer
JERUSALEM (AP) - Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (news - web sites) said Thursday that a Palestinian state must never be established and that Yasser Arafat (news - web sites) must be overthrown.
Polls indicate Netanyahu has a strong chance of returning to power, and his statements were seen as a direct challenge to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites). Both belong to the right-wing Likud party, but last summer Sharon came out in favor of a Palestinian state, albeit on much less land than the Palestinians claim.
There is strong support for Arafat's expulsion among hard-line elements in the Likud. Sharon has branded Arafat a terrorist and bitter enemy of Israel, but has stopped short of advocating Arafat's ouster, something the United States opposes. Netanyahu said if the Palestinians achieve independence, Israel will be unable to prevent them from bringing in arms, even if they sign an agreement prohibiting the import of weapons.
The ex-prime minister said the problem was highlighted by Israel's recent seizure of a ship with contraband weapons which Israel says were destined for the Palestinians.
``With its own independent port, such a state would receive shiploads of arms, day and night, and we would find ourselves facing a terrorist state, armed to the teeth,'' he told Israel Radio.
The only way to stop the current Palestinian attacks on Israelis is to bring down the Palestinian Authority (news - web sites) and its leader, Netanyahu said. Expelling Arafat ``would make clear to any future Palestinian leadership that if you resort to terrorism, your fate will be like that of the Taliban and Arafat,'' Netanyahu said.
Netanyahu said that at a forthcoming session of the Likud Central Committee he will support a motion stating a Palestinian state must never be established.
A less important Likud forum, the political bureau, passed such a resolution earlier this week, but a decision of the Central Committee would be binding on the party leader.
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