Arab states, including KSA, to attend peace meet
Saturday, 24 November 2007
CAIRO, Nov 23 (Reuters): The Arab League group charged with following up on peace with Israel agreed Friday to attend a US-sponsored Middle East peace conference, and Saudi Arabia's foreign minister indicated he would attend.
"The Arab peace follow-up group has decided to accept the invitation to attend the Annapolis Middle East peace conference at a ministerial level to discuss the peace process," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference.
Later asked if Saudi Arabia would attend the Annapolis, Maryland talks on a ministerial level, Faisal nodded his head.
"As long as there is an Arab consensus to attend, and at the ministerial level, then the Kingdom will follow the attendance and the Arab consensus in this context", he added at the close of talks of foreign ministers from the Arab League group to follow up on a 2002 Arab peace initiative.
Washington hopes the Annapolis meeting will launch talks to end six decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saudi participation on November 27 could bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's ability to reach an agreement and help Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sell it to Israelis, by holding out the prospect of wider peace with the Arab world.
"We are before a historic opportunity. We want to raise our voice loudly. ... We are hoping that we will be together at the conference discussing all tracks, the Palestinian-Israeli track, the Syrian-Israeli track and the Lebanese track", Abbas told journalists during a break from the meeting.
The United States has invited about 40 countries to the talks. Egypt, a major US ally and one of only two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, has offered support for next week's meeting despite initial reservations.
It remains unclear how far the peace conference will go to tackle the core issues -- borders, security, settlements, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees -- that have defeated previous efforts to end the conflict.
"The Arab peace follow-up group has decided to accept the invitation to attend the Annapolis Middle East peace conference at a ministerial level to discuss the peace process," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told a news conference.
Later asked if Saudi Arabia would attend the Annapolis, Maryland talks on a ministerial level, Faisal nodded his head.
"As long as there is an Arab consensus to attend, and at the ministerial level, then the Kingdom will follow the attendance and the Arab consensus in this context", he added at the close of talks of foreign ministers from the Arab League group to follow up on a 2002 Arab peace initiative.
Washington hopes the Annapolis meeting will launch talks to end six decades of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Saudi participation on November 27 could bolster Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's ability to reach an agreement and help Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sell it to Israelis, by holding out the prospect of wider peace with the Arab world.
"We are before a historic opportunity. We want to raise our voice loudly. ... We are hoping that we will be together at the conference discussing all tracks, the Palestinian-Israeli track, the Syrian-Israeli track and the Lebanese track", Abbas told journalists during a break from the meeting.
The United States has invited about 40 countries to the talks. Egypt, a major US ally and one of only two Arab states to have signed a peace treaty with Israel, has offered support for next week's meeting despite initial reservations.
It remains unclear how far the peace conference will go to tackle the core issues -- borders, security, settlements, the status of Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees -- that have defeated previous efforts to end the conflict.