Jordan Times
Thursday, March 15, 2007
King urges unified Arab
stand to relaunch peace offer
By Khalid Neimat
AMMAN — King Abdullah on Wednesday urged a unified stand at the Arab summit this
month to relaunch a 2002 peace offer for Israel.
The King told Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal and his Egyptian
counterpart Ahmed Abul Gheit that the items on the agenda for the March 28-29
summit in Riyadh were extremely important and require that all Arab countries
work together to unify their positions, particularly to revive the Arab Peace
Initiative.
The initiative, which Arab states launched at their Beirut summit in 2002,
offered Israel full recognition and peace in return for its withdrawal to the
1967 borders, the establishment of an independent Palestine and an “agreed, just
solution” to the issue of refugees in accordance with UN Resolution 194 of 1948.
At a meeting with the top diplomats, the King called on Arabs to support the
Palestinian Authority to build institutions that would form the basis of an
independent state, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. The King and the
foreign ministers, meanwhile, agreed that an end to violence in Iraq was vital
to bring about national reconciliation for all Iraqis.
Prince Faisal and Abul Gheit also met with Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib to
prepare for the Riyadh summit.