Interest grows in Saudi plan for peace
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The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah sat down Feb. 27 to discuss a land-for-peace offer aimed at settling the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Solana's arrival in Saudi Arabia was the first visit by a Western leader to discuss Abdullah's proposal. The proposal would see Israel withdraw from Arab territory it occupied in the 1967 Mideast war and gain the Arab world's diplomatic recognition in return.
The U.S. has welcomed the Saudi proposal as a "note of hope" but stopped short of calling it a major breakthrough.
"I see very great importance in this incentive," Israeli President Moshe Katsav said Feb. 27. "The fact that there would be normalization between the Arab world and Israel — this is certainly a dramatic step, a step of importance, deserving of consideration and serious thought."
In Cairo, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said Arab nations had no "problem in dealing with Israel" if Palestinian needs are met.
Abdullah's land-for-peace formula is not new and has long been a basis for Mideast peacemaking. Yet the proposal has drawn interest, in part because of the rare involvement of powerful Saudi Arabia.
サウジ皇太子が中東和平案
サウジアラビアのアブドラ皇太子による中東紛争の和平案に関心が高まっている。
Shukan ST: March 8, 2002
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