Egyptian FM Aboul Gheit (Reuters)
More Arab states may forge contacts with Israel, Egyptian FM says
Aboul Gheit scheduled to visit region this week together with his Jordanian counterpart to promote Arab peace initiative
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Tuesday, on the eve of a diplomatic visit to Israel, that additional Arab countries may later forge diplomatic contacts with Jerusalem.
Aboul Gheit is scheduled to visit the region on Wednesday together with his Jordanian counterpart, Abdel Ilah al-Khatib, to promote the Arab peace initiative, a peace-for-land plan re-launched by an Arab summit in Saudi Arabia in March.
Egypt and Jordan were mandated for the mission by an Arab League committee last month because they are the only Arab nations that have diplomatic relations with Israel.
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has called on other Arab states - particularly Saudi Arabia - to join in direct talks with Israel on the initiative. Saudi Arabia and others have refused, saying Israel must accept the peace offer before they would consider a direct meeting.
However, Aboul Gheit held out the possibility of broader contacts if Israel meets certain conditions, though he did not specify which Arab nations might join.
"The committee's statement pointed to the possibility for a larger working group to contact and consult the Israeli government about the peace settlement," Aboul Gheit said in a statement.
"This is on condition that Israel stops its actions in the West Bank and Gaza Strip," he said. He mentioned lifting measures imposed after the start of the Palestinian uprising in 2000, including an economic blockade, halting the building of the security fence and excavations at the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.
The Arab initiative promises Israel full peace with all Arab nations if it withdraws from territories captured in the 1967 Six-Day War and allows the creation of a Palestinian state.
Israel rejected the plan outright when it was first presented in 2002, but Olmert has now expressed willingness to discuss it.
