Crown Prince Abdullah’s vision for mideast peace draws global support

In an interview with the New York Times published on February 17, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz spoke of plans he had to deliver a speech at the Arab League Summit in March laying out his vision of peace in the Middle East based on “full withdrawal from all occupied territories in accordance with United Nations resolutions, including Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations” between the Arab states and Israel.

Crown Prince Abdullah’s objective was “to find a way to make clear to the Israeli people that the Arabs don’t reject or despise them. But the Arab people do reject what their leadership is now doing to the Palestinians, which is inhumane and oppressive. And I thought of this as a possible signal to the Israeli people.”

The Crown Prince’s statement generated a flurry of activity and optimism in the region and the world. On February 24, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell praised the initiative. “I think it’s an important step that we have welcomed,” he said two days later, “and I wanted to share that with the Crown Prince, our reaction to his idea, and hope that in the weeks ahead it will be fleshed out in greater detail.”

President George W. Bush called Crown Prince Abdullah on February 26 to discuss the initiative as well as bilateral relations and developments in the region. The White House said that President Bush had praised the initiative. The following day, Assistant Secretary of State William J. Burns flew to Riyadh to discuss the Crown Prince’s ideas.

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed Crown Prince Abdullah’s peace initiative, saying it contained “some positive and bold ideas on the Israeli-Palestinian peace process at a serious time when violence has reached an unprecedented level.” In a telephone call with Crown Prince Abdullah, Mr. Annan said he hoped the move would “motivate parties to restore peace and re-establish justice” in the Middle East.

On February 27, Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union Dr. Javier Solana, who directs the EU’s foreign and security policy, met with Crown Prince Abdullah in Jeddah to discuss the initiative. After the meeting, Dr. Solana said Crown Prince Abdullah intends to discuss the initiative with Arab heads-of-state at the Arab League summit scheduled for late March, and expects them to back his initiative. “The Crown Prince has said that he is fully determined to move forward with his ideas that he thinks may bring peace to the region, that he is going to coordinate his ideas with the Arab countries...and he expects at the Arab League summit they will be approved,” Solana told Reuters.

“Crown Prince Abdullah’s proposal is of great importance and could help to break the political impasse in the region,” said a spokesman for the European Commission. “It is important that, for the first time such a proposal, which would have to involve the whole of the Arab world, was made explicitly by Saudi Arabia,” the spokesman said.

Dr. Solana was in Cairo after visiting Israel and the Palestinian territories for talks on the Saudi initiative with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.

“Peace is the strategic choice of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and all Arab countries, and we are ready for reciprocal commitments with Israel in this respect, on the condition that Israel withdraws from territories occupied in 1967,” Egyptian President Mubarak was quoted by Egypt’s MENA news agency as saying.

Palestinian President Yasser Arafat said after his meeting with Dr. Solana that he “appreciated and supported completely” Crown Prince Abdullah’s efforts.

Syrian President Dr. Bashar Al-Assad also expressed support for the Crown Prince’s initiative.

Russia, the cosponsor with the U.S. of the stalled peace process, also supported the initiative, which it described as positive.

Canada said that it welcomes the initiative, adding that it would be discussed among the Group of Eight industrialized nations. Foreign Minister Bill Graham said: “We welcome the proposal by Saudi Arabia. We are going to examine it as part of our role as chair of the G8 this year,” when the leaders of the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, Britain, France, Germany and Italy meet in Canada in June.

China said it “appreciated and supported” the initiative, and that it considered “the proposal positive and constructive.”

Turkey also expressed support for the initiative. “We support all initiatives aimed at Middle East peace,” said a Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman. “We view Saudi Arabia’s plan as a beneficial step. We hope it will help in overcoming the stalemate in replacing the spiraling violence with dialogue.”

Both Britain and Italy expressed support for the initiative on the same day. “We welcome Prince Abdullah’s ideas,” a British Foreign Office spokesman told AFP. “They represent a positive gesture at a difficult time. The vision of a full normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors as part of a comprehensive peace settlement is very helpful.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said the proposal, with its “strong and courageous ideas,” could “contribute to creating a positive climate” for a peaceful settlement of the Arab-Israeli crisis.

Crown Prince Abdullah’s initiative has become a rallying point for the world community in efforts to bring about a just and comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict.