-Caveat Lector- From http://www.smh.com.au/news/0202/26/world/world1.html
}}}>Begin - WORLD Sharon ready to discuss Saudi peace initiative By Ross Dunn, Herald Correspondent in Jerusalem The Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, has asked the United States to help arrange a meeting with Saudi officials to discuss their initiative to end Middle East hostilities. Saudi Arabia has floated a proposal for Israel to withdraw its forces to its borders before the 1967 Middle East War, in exchange for full diplomatic relations, normalised trade and guarantees of security from Arab states. The Saudi plan calls for Israel to hand over the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem, which have remained under occupation since the 1967 war. Mr Sharon told an Israeli Cabinet meeting on Sunday that he had asked the US Administration to tell Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah that if the Saudis were serious, he would be willing to meet them and discuss the plan. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has endorsed Prince Abdullah's proposal. Officials in the Prime Minister's office said after the cabinet meeting that the proposal was a "trial balloon" intended to improve relations between Saudi Arabia and the US. Another official said its importance should not be undervalued: "The fact of the approach and their willingness to make such a declaration prove to us that they understand that the situation in the Middle East is changing and they must move with the trend." Mr Sharon's spokesman, Mr Ra'anan Gissin, welcomed the Saudi initiative. He said that in the past the Saudis had not been helpful in promoting better relations between Israel and the Palestinians. The Israeli Defence Minister, Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was unashamedly enthusiastic about the prospects for a breakthrough. "If we are dealing with a new process that could change the make-up of the Middle East, we cannot say no," he said. Crown Prince Abdullah yesterday continued to promote his plan. However, he would not confirm whether it would be formally presented at a summit of the Arab League, scheduled for Beirut next month. In an interview published yesterday, the prince conceded that the Israelis and Palestinians were both suffering from the terror and violence raging in the region. At the same time, he repeated his view that Mr Sharon bore responsibility for the continuing conflict. In the latest clashes, Israeli soldiers yesterday shot dead two Palestinians at military checkpoints in the West Bank, and wounded a Palestinian woman who was on her way to hospital to give birth. Palestinian officials said the troops had opened fire on a car at a roadblock near the city of Nablus, where they killed the woman's husband and wounded her father-in- law. In a similar incident on Sunday, another pregnant Palestinian woman who was slightly wounded gave birth only a few hours later, Palestinian officials said. Meanwhile, Israeli tanks pulled back from outside Mr Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, but the Israeli Government said they would still not allow him to leave the city's limits. The decision has outraged the Palestinian leadership, which says that it demonstrates that Mr Sharon is not interested in ending the violence and resuming negotiations. Site Guide | Archive | Feedback | f2 Network Privacy Policy | Conditions of Use | Member Agreement Copyright © 2002. All rights reserved. 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