Cairo: Saudi Arabia and other Arab nations decided on Friday to attend next week's US-sponsored Middle East peace conference.
The Saudi foreign minister insisted he would not allow 'theatrics' like handshakes with Israeli officials, saying the gathering must make serious progress.
Participation by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al Faisal was a key goal of the United States to show strong Arab support for the conference in Annapolis, Maryland, which is to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace talks for the first time in seven years.
Until Friday, the kingdom had baulked at saying whether it would attend and at what level, seeking assurances Israel would negotiate the most difficult issues of the Arab-Israeli conflict in negotiations governed by a timetable.
Still unclear was whether Syria would also attend. The Arab decision was a collective one, including Syria. But after the announcement, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Al Mua'alem told reporters, "We haven't made a decision to participate until we receive the agenda of the conference and read it to find an item addressing the Syrian-Israeli track, meaning the occupied Golan Heights." Damascus has insisted it won't attend unless the conference deals with relaunching its track of negotiations with Israel, in which Syria seeks a full return of the Israeli-held Golan in return for peace.
Prince Saud told a press conference that an Arab League meeting yesterday had decided that Arab countries will attend Annapolis at the level of foreign minister.
No secret
"I'm not hiding any secret about the Saudi position. We were reluctant until today. And if not for the Arab consensus we felt today, we would not have decided to go," Prince Saud said. "But the kingdom would never stand against an Arab consensus, as long as the Arab position has agreed on attending, the kingdom will walk along with its brothers in one line." But he cautioned, "We are not prepared to take part in a theatrical show, in handshakes and meeting that don't express political positions. We are going with seriousness and we work on the same seriousness and credibility."
Saudi Arabia, which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel, has feared that the conference would become little more than a photo op, cornering it into high-profile public contacts with Israel without a guarantee of concessions from the Jewish state.
The kingdom was looking for an Israeli commitment that Israeli-Palestinian negotiations will tackle the core, most difficult issues of the conflict, such as final borders of a Palestinian state, the status of occupied Jerusalem and the fate of Palestinian refugees.
But in the end, it is going without a guarantee of those commitments in writing. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has sought to reassure Arab nations, saying negotiations would address the core issues and that a deal could be reached in 2008. But Israel has opposed a formal timetable for talks and the specific mention of the major issues in a joint declaration that is expected to be issued at Annapolis.
