U.S. Calls Re-launch of Arab Peace Initiative "Very Positive"
29 March 2007
State Department urges Arab League to use plan as "basis for active diplomacy"
Washington -- Reaffirmation of the 2002 Arab initiative offering Israel recognition and permanent peace in exchange for a withdrawal from territory captured in 1967 and a resolution to the issue of Palestinian refugees is “very positive,” according to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack.
Speaking to reporters March 29, McCormack said the initiative is “an effort to reach out, to be constructive on an issue of interest to all the countries of the region, and we are encouraged by this development and we certainly welcome it.”
He urged the Arab League to use the initiative, first proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, as “a basis for active diplomacy.”
The initiative calls for open direct negotiations between Arab countries and Israel. Israel has said it could accept the offer with some changes, mainly due to its opposition to a full withdrawal from the West Bank and east Jerusalem, as well as concern about an influx of a large number of Palestinian refugees inside its borders.
The Arab League, meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, also discussed forming committees to explain its initiative to parties involved in Arab-Israeli peace efforts, including the Quartet of nations (France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States), the Group of Eight (G8) nations, and other interested parties in the region.
The G8 includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia.
McCormack encouraged Arab states to “use this as a moment to reach out and try to explain to all interested parties the nature of their initiative and the thinking behind their deciding to re-launch this initiative.”
During her recent visit to the region, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told leaders that it will be “very important for Arab states to play an active role in promoting the cause of peace in the region,” McCormack said earlier in the day. (See related article.)
“It’s their initiative,” he said. “We are not and have not asked them to amend it. It is up for them to decide the scope and details of [it].”
Asked about whether the Arab League will seek direct contact with Israel to discuss the initiative, a senior State Department official said the working groups the Arab states had proposed would be reaching out to the Quartet, the G8 and “other interested parties,” adding “certainly Israel might be included” among the latter group.
“I can’t rule out that they would all be in the same room together, so we’ll see,” the official said.
For more information on U.S. policy, see The Middle East: A Vision for the Future.
(USINFO is produced by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
