Saudi FM: Israel should halt settlement building before talks
Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. (AP)27 September 2007
Saudi Arabia's foreign minister said on Wednesday Israel should freeze construction in West Bank settlements and on the separation fence in order to attract Arab states to a planned peace conference.
But speaking to a group of journalists, Prince Saud al-Faisal stopped short of saying the Arabs would not attend the U.S.-organized conference, expected to be held in the Washington area in November, unless Israel took such measures.
Al-Faisal, attending the annual UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders, said he had been encouraged by discussions between Arab ministers and international mediators on Sunday that there was a serious attempt to revive the peace process.
There is a sense that there is something new happening, and this is encouraging if it is going to prove right," he said.
"We are waiting to see, but the language we have heard... such statements that failure is not an option... that the intent is to look at the final status issues, the important issues and not the peripheral issues... this is what we have always asked for."
Washington has said members of an Arab League panel - the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt - would be "natural invitees" to the meeting, for which no invitations have yet been issued.
Attention has focused on whether Saudi Arabia would come, because of its standing in the Arab world.
"We will see... whether for the intent of the conference [the Israelis] will take the measures of confidence-building... such as the freeze of settlements and stopping the building of the wall," Al-Faisal said.
"Because it will be curious for [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas and the prime minister of Israel to be talking about peace and the return of Palestinian land while Israel is continuing to build more settlements.
"So at least a moratorium on the building of settlements will be a good signal to show a serious intent.... It is not too much to ask," he said, adding that was a common Arab, not just a Saudi, position.
Earlier, Syria, which would be a controversial invitee because of tensions with Israel following an alleged Israel Air Force strike on its territory early this month, along with allegations it arms and finances Palestinian militant groups, said it was "studying the situation."
"The failure of this meeting will have dangerous consequences on the region," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told Al-Jazeera television in an interview in New York.
"If the goal was not to bring just and comprehensive peace in the region... I believe that attending that meeting would be a risk."
Source
But speaking to a group of journalists, Prince Saud al-Faisal stopped short of saying the Arabs would not attend the U.S.-organized conference, expected to be held in the Washington area in November, unless Israel took such measures.
Al-Faisal, attending the annual UN General Assembly gathering of world leaders, said he had been encouraged by discussions between Arab ministers and international mediators on Sunday that there was a serious attempt to revive the peace process.
There is a sense that there is something new happening, and this is encouraging if it is going to prove right," he said.
"We are waiting to see, but the language we have heard... such statements that failure is not an option... that the intent is to look at the final status issues, the important issues and not the peripheral issues... this is what we have always asked for."
Washington has said members of an Arab League panel - the Palestinian Authority, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Egypt - would be "natural invitees" to the meeting, for which no invitations have yet been issued.
Attention has focused on whether Saudi Arabia would come, because of its standing in the Arab world.
"We will see... whether for the intent of the conference [the Israelis] will take the measures of confidence-building... such as the freeze of settlements and stopping the building of the wall," Al-Faisal said.
"Because it will be curious for [Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas and the prime minister of Israel to be talking about peace and the return of Palestinian land while Israel is continuing to build more settlements.
"So at least a moratorium on the building of settlements will be a good signal to show a serious intent.... It is not too much to ask," he said, adding that was a common Arab, not just a Saudi, position.
Earlier, Syria, which would be a controversial invitee because of tensions with Israel following an alleged Israel Air Force strike on its territory early this month, along with allegations it arms and finances Palestinian militant groups, said it was "studying the situation."
"The failure of this meeting will have dangerous consequences on the region," Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem told Al-Jazeera television in an interview in New York.
"If the goal was not to bring just and comprehensive peace in the region... I believe that attending that meeting would be a risk."
Source
Labels: Israel, Saudi Arabia, Syria
posted by HRM Deborah of Israel and the Messenger of Peace at 4:53 PM
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