Arab League. Peace initiative?
Photo: AP
Moussa and Anna. To meet soon (Archive photo)
Photo: AP
'Arab vision' to advance peace process
Arab League, PA, other Arab states meet to formulate Arab vision for peace in Middle East
The Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and the Arab League are holding intensive talks in recent days in an attempt to formulate an "Arab vision" for advancing the peace process.
The final document is to be delivered to the United Nations Security Council at the end of the month, according to the east Jerusalem-based al-Quds newspaper.
Hisham Yousef, head of the office of the Arab League's director-general, said that the Arab League's plan would include a schedule for the revival of the peace process and the renewal of the Arab-Israeli negotiations.
As an additional step, Arab League Director-General Amr Moussa will hold consultations with UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in Cairo on Tuesday, as part of a visit held by Annan in Egypt.
'Initiative unlikely to bear fruit in near future'
The two are expected to discuss Lebanon, the situation in the territories, Sudan, Iraq, and Somalia."The Arab peace initiative committee will meet on Tuesday in order to formulate the Arab stance and discuss details of the Arab proposal that will be presented toe Security Council," Yousef said.
The Arab League foreign ministers say they will meet again in New York on September 19 in order to discuss the Arab proposal for the Arab-Israeli conflict, before presenting it to the Security Council.
Recently, sources in Jerusalem said they believed the Palestinians would act to advance their own diplomatic initiative in order to pressure Israel ahead of the Security Council meeting at the end of the month. The sources also thought that despite the diplomatic pressure, the initiative was unlikely to bear fruit in the near future.
