RIYADH, 4 June — Saudi Arabia, at the center of moves to revive the Mideast peace process, wants a proposed conference to discuss implementation of an Arab peace plan authored by Riyadh, an Arab diplomat said yesterday.
Prince Abdullah, the regent, consulted on Sunday with European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana. Later yesterday Prince Abdullah met with US Middle East envoy William Burns, a Western diplomat said.
Solana and Burns, both touring the region, have called for holding a Middle East peace conference in the summer to find a settlement for the Arab-Israeli conflict.
"The flurry of activity focuses on the need to implement the Arab peace plan, which has been accepted by all sides except Israel," the Arab diplomat said.
"The Saudis are insisting that the Arab peace plan should be at the core of any move in the Middle East," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
"It has now become a necessity to force Israel to accept the peace plan and implement it. The plan is backed by Europeans, Americans and Arabs," the diplomat added.
The Arab plan calls for Israel’s withdrawal from all land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war in return for full peace and normal relations with Arab states.
Prince Abdullah, author of the blueprint endorsed at an Arab summit in late March, was also to receive Morocco’s King Muhammad VI later yesterday to discuss the Arab position toward the proposed peace conference.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Othman Ismail meanwhile held talks in Jeddah on Sunday with Abdullah about preparations for a meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) slated for June 25 in Khartoum and expected to focus on the Middle East.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan phoned Abdullah late Sunday and "exchanged views about the deterioration of situation in the Palestinian territories," the SPA news agency reported.
Solana met early yesterday with Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal before concluding a two-day visit to the Kingdom.
The talks, which completed the EU envoy’s discussions with Abdullah, touched on "the situation in the Middle East and the occupied Arab territories as well as developments on the Palestinian scene," SPA said.
The talks between the foreign visitors and Saudi officials covered the Middle East peace conference proposed by the United States.
"The Saudis have been insisting that any peace conference should be held only to discuss an implementation mechanism for the Arab peace plan, not for starting fresh negotiations," the Arab diplomat said.
"The conference should be the culmination of an agreement reached ahead of the gathering," he added.
Abdullah warned the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon last week that it must choose between peace and bloodshed.
Palestinian ambassador in Riyadh Mustafa Al-Sheikh Deeb said the Kingdom had refused to intervene to pressure the Palestinian Authority to carry out political reforms.
"We have been assured by Saudi officials that reforms are a purely internal Palestinian issue and the Kingdom will not intervene," Deeb told AFP, referring to reports that Burns might ask Riyadh to press the Palestinian Authority to accelerate reforms.
