JEDDAH, 16 May — GCC countries yesterday upheld an Arab offer of peace with Israel, rejected all forms of violence and slammed Israel’s ruling Likud party for rejecting a Palestinian state.
In a statement at the end of a meeting here, the GCC foreign ministers also urged the United States and the international community to put pressure on Israel to pull out of Palestinian lands it has reoccupied.
Oman’s Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Yousuf ibn Alawi Abdullah, whose country holds the rotating GCC presidency, told reporters that Israeli leaders, chiefly those from Likud, appeared to be “swimming against the tide” by failing to respond to global peace initiatives.
He commended the “new orientations” in US policy on the Palestinian issue and said it would help revive the Middle East peace process. He also noted that Washington was taking account of Palestinian and Arab demands.
The Omani minister urged Israel to send “positive signals” to the Arabs about its quest for peace and to take “concrete steps” in this direction. The ministers declared their commitment to the Saudi-inspired Arab peace initiative as the basis of any move to achieve a just and comprehensive peace settlement in the Middle East.
In a statement, they said the rejection of Palestinian statehood by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s right-wing Likud party would obstruct efforts to attain peace in the region.
The extraordinary meeting was called by the Kingdom, which has been at the forefront of Arab efforts to strike a peace deal since Arab states endorsed a land-for-peace proposal of Crown Prince Abdullah, deputy premier and commander of the National Guard, at the Beirut summit.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal briefed his GCC counterparts on the Sharm El-Sheikh summit of Prince Abdullah, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian President Bashar Assad.
