CAIRO, 24 November 2007 — Arab foreign ministers meeting here yesterday agreed to attend a US-sponsored peace conference next week, giving a boost to Washington’s efforts to revive the Middle East peace process.
But Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Israel and the Palestinians had failed to agree on a joint document to be presented at Tuesday’s meeting in the US city of Annapolis, underscoring public pessimism about the chances of the meeting’s success.
Arab ministers meeting here including Syria and Saudi Arabia “have accepted the invitation to attend the Annapolis conference on a ministerial level,” according to a statement after the talks.
Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said yesterday that he had been ‘reluctant’ to join a US-hosted peace conference next week but agreed to go so as not to break Arab consensus.
“It is no secret that I was reluctant until today and had it not been for the Arab consensus at the meeting (in Cairo), Saudi Arabia would not have gone to Annapolis,” Saud told a news conference after foreign ministers announced their participation.
He stressed that participation in and of itself was not the final goal, but that Arabs were seeking an agreement that safeguards their interests.
“We are not going for handshakes or a display of emotions... We are there only to reach a peace which safeguards Arab interests and safeguards the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese lands,” he said.
“If (the Israelis) are serious, they will be met with seriousness by the Arab side. If they are not, there are no swords hanging over our necks forcing us to agree to whatever is offered,” he added.
Washington is seeking as wide an Arab participation as possible at the conference, aimed at kick-starting peace talks after seven years of stalemate, and the involvement of states such as Syria and Saudi Arabia is seen as crucial.
But the Arab ministers had sent an urgent letter to the United States asking it to “explicitly” include the issue of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on the agenda.
Israel welcomed the Arab decision, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev saying “any step by the Arab world to support the process of Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation is a positive step.
On Thursday, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said any peace with Israel must be based on an Arab peace blueprint, which offers normalization of ties with the Jewish state if it withdraws from Arab land occupied in 1967.
US President George W. Bush has invited Israel, the Palestinians and officials from more than 40 countries to Annapolis in the hope of making progress in peace efforts before his term ends in January 2009.
