Arabs to relaunch 2002 peace plan

Cairo: Arabs will relaunch a 2002 land-for-peace offer to end the decades long conflict with Israel at a summit in Saudi Arabia later this month but without the changes Israel has been pushing, a top Arab League official said yesterday.

Secretary-General Amr Mousa's made these remarks at an opening speech to a meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

"The Arab peace initiative expresses an Arab consensus and will not be redrafted as demanded by some foreign powers," Mousa told the ministers, who were in meeting in Cairo ahead of the two-day Arab League summit later this month in Saudi Arabia.

"Manoeuvring and watering down [the initiative] will be a strategic mistake," Mousa said. "It perhaps will lead to new bloodshed."

Right to return

Last week, Israeli newspapers quoted Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni as saying Israel would not accept the Arab peace plan as is and asked to drop any reference to the right of the Palestinians displaced in the 1948 Mideast war to return to their homes inside the Jewish state.

Mousa reiterated that Israel should give back all territories it seized in the 1967 war and allow Palestinian refugees to return. The 2002 plan calls for the establishment of a Palestinian state and full recognition of Israel in return for an Israeli withdrawal from all territory captured in the Arab-Israeli wars. A later version of the initiative states that Israel should return all Arab land and also allow Palestinian refugees to return.

Meanwhile, Libya said it will not attend the upcoming Arab summit in Saudi Arabia, adding that the Arab world "is not serious" and that "joint Arab action is dysfunctional."

"Arab joint action is marred by disorder," Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Shalqam said in Cairo. "Libya is insisting on a real Arab mechanism - not policies of axes, groups and unilateral changes to decisions," an angry Shalqam said.

Jordan's King Abdullah II has said Israel must choose between the mentality of "Israel, the fortress" or "living in peace and security with its neighbours".

Before his departure to the United States, the king also said the US was the country most capable of influencing Israel.

Abdullah stresses consensus support for Iraq

Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Foreign Minister, has stressed the importance of the Arab ministerial consultative committee meeting in Cairo to discuss the situation in Iraq.

He expressed hope that the meeting would reach a consensus on ways to support the integrity and stability in Iraq.

Shaikh Abdullah made his statement at the consultative meeting of Arab foreign ministers.

He said, “Although Iraq is a major issue now, it does not alter the fact that the Palestinian issue is the core issue.''

Commenting on the dangers of Iran's nuclear programme, Shaikh Abdullah said, “We hope Iran will be committed to a transparent approach, not just for the sake of Arab countries but for the sake of the entire world,'' he added.