Jordan Times
Friday, March 23, 2007
Khatib says peace bid
‘serious’ offer
AMMAN (AFP) — A dormant five-year-old Arab initiative for peace with Israel is a
serious offer and will be the cornerstone of discussions at next week’s Arab
summit, Foreign Minister Abdul Ilah Khatib said on Thursday.
“The Arab initiative represents a constructive Arab position and a serious peace
offer,” Khatib said, ahead of the March 28-29 summit to be hosted by Riyadh and
day after accompanying King Abdullah to the Saudi capital for talks with King
Abdullah.
“It merits particular attention and serious action to be submitted to all
parties and for its application.”
During their meeting, the two monarchs agreed that the summit must “readopt” the
initiative, which was first submitted by Saudi Arabia at an Arab summit in
Beirut in 2002, an official said. The proposal offers normalisation of Arab ties
with the Jewish state in exchange for its pullout from Arab lands and the
establishment of a Palestinian state.
The 2002 Beirut Declaration calls on Israel to withdraw from “occupied Arab
territories, including the Syrian Golan Heights, to the June 4, 1967 line, and
the territories still occupied in southern Lebanon”.
It also calls for a just solution to the problem of the Palestinian refugees,
who fled or were driven from their homes when Israel was founded in 1948.
And it calls for an independent and sovereign state “on the Palestinian
territories occupied since June 4, 1967 in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with
East Jerusalem as its capital”.
In return, the Arab states would “consider the Arab-Israeli conflict over, sign
a peace agreement with Israel and achieve peace for all states in the region”.
They would also “establish normal relations with Israel within the framework of
this comprehensive peace”.
Earlier this month, Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said the initiative had
some good points, but needed work. “There are positive elements in the Saudi
initiative, but some of its clauses are contrary to the principle of two
states,” she said.
Livni said the initiative contained “two additional clauses very problematic for
Israel” concerning the refugees.
One calls for the return of Palestinians and the other rules out their permanent
settlement in the Arab states where they or their descendants now live.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Israel “was ready to take seriously” the peace
plan and hoped the Arab summit would bolster its “positive elements”.
Khatib, meanwhile, said the Riyadh summit will also focus on the Palestinian
issue and the violence-riddled situation in Iraq, and he underscored the
importance of “reinforcing common Arab action to deal with all these issues”.