CAIRO: Arab foreign ministers reiterated their support of the Saudi peace initiative of 2002, following their meeting at the Arab League in Cairo Thursday.
The meeting is aiming at achieving a unified Arab direction to the peace process after the election of the new Israeli right-wing government headed by Benyamin Netanyahu and also including hardliners like Avigdor Lieberman.
Netanyahu is to meet President Hosni Mubarak in Sharm El-Sheikh next Monday.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Naser Joudah told reporters in Cairo Thursday that Arab nations were still behind the Arab peace initiative of 2002, which offers normalization of relations with Israel if they return to the pre-1967 borders.
The meeting will also examine a report on alleged war crimes by Israel during its military offensive on Gaza last December.
Prior to the meeting, Jordan’s King Abdullah said at a news conference in Berlin that a new approach to the peace process may be introduced, indicating that a “combined approach involving Syria and Lebanon alongside the Israelis and Palestinians would be discussed.
“What we are discussing today is a combined approach of bringing together Arabs, Europeans and the United States as a team to create the circumstances over the next several months that allow Israelis and Palestinians to sit at the table, but also with Lebanese, Syrians and Arab nations, he said.
“So it is a packaged effort that we are going to work on, Abdullah added, “and I would imagine that the plan will be more articulated by the president of the United States after Prime Minister Netanyahu s visit to Washington [on May 18].
