NEW YORK, 28 September 2007 — Israel should freeze construction of Jewish settlements and a separation wall in the West Bank to prove its “seriousness” ahead of a Middle East peace summit, Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister said Wednesday. In a news conference on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly here, Prince Saud Al-Faisal also continued to refuse to confirm his country’s participation in the US-sponsored summit expected in November.
Prince Saud said it would be “curious” if Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert discuss peace at the conference “while building of the settlements and the wall continue.” “There should be a moratorium,” he said. “In order to prove its seriousness, Israel should at least put a moratorium on building of new settlements,” he said.
“It’s not too much to ask. If you are talking about giving back occupied territory you should not take new territories.” He also continued to feed doubt on whether Saudi Arabia would attend the conference. “Saudi Arabia does not have an occupied territory. It is Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinians that are the key players in this,” he said. “Its presence (Saudi) there or not presence is not the most significant issue.”
“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.”
The negotiations would be primarily between Israel and the Palestinians, but the United States wants other Arab states to take part in the conference as a way to build support for a broader peace between Israel and its neighbors.
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, stopping the building of the wall,” Saud said.
Jewish settlements built in the West Bank since Israel captured the area in 1967 have long been an obstacle in Middle East negotiations. The wall Israel is building in the West Bank to protect itself from attacks has been called illegal by the International Court of Justice.
Earlier, Syria said it was “studying the situation.” “The failure of this meeting will have dangerous consequences on the region,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al-Muallem 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.”
Meanwhile, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia and the Arab League said in a joint statement seen here yesterday the upcoming Lebanese presidential polls must be held within the time frame set by the country’s constitution.
The statement was issued at the end of a meeting that brought together Bernard Kouchner of France, Ahmed Aboul Gheit of Egypt, Prince Saud and Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa in New York on Wednesday.
“The participants have stressed the absolute necessity of respecting the timeframe determined by the Lebanese constitution for holding the presidential elections, which shall be conducted without any outside interference or pressures with the aim of preserving the stability of Lebanon,” it said.
