RIYADH, 6 November — Saudi Arabia and the Palestinian Authority yesterday agreed on “identical reservations” toward a US-backed “road map” for peace in the Middle East, a Palestinian minister said after talks with Saudi officials.
“We have agreed to a joint vision containing our reservations toward the US plan. We will present it to the next Arab foreign ministers meeting in Cairo,” Minister for International Cooperation Nabil Shaath said.
Shaath, who arrived in Riyadh on Monday, held talks with Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, and Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
“The Saudi-Palestinian reservations aim at improving the terms of the US plan and not to abort it,” said Shaath, who left Riyadh for talks in Cairo.
The blueprint, which calls for the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel by 2005, was put together by the United Nations, the European Union, Russia and the United States. It was discussed with Arab states by US envoy William Burns during a regional tour last month. Shaath said the plan in the first phase “puts all the obligations on Palestinians” and gives Israel a veto power in later stages.
The Palestinian official called on the four countries who drafted the proposal to “immediately send observers to the Palestinian territories rather than waiting until August.” The plan ignores the issue of Jerusalem and interferes in the internal affairs of the Palestinians.
