-Caveat Lector- http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=topnews&StoryID=636179
WJPBR Email News List [EMAIL PROTECTED] Peace at any cost is a Prelude to War! Sharon Willing to Meet Over Saudi Peace Proposal February 26, 2002 12:20 PM ET Email this article Printer friendly version Reuters Photo By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli leader Ariel Sharon expressed readiness Tuesday to meet Saudi officials over a Saudi peace initiative that drew praise from President Bush for its vision of Israeli-Arab normalization. The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, cut short a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories and planned to go to Saudi Arabia Wednesday to discuss Crown Prince Abdullah's surprise peace plan. The proposal by Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler calls on Arab states to recognize Israel and normalize relations with the Jewish state in return for a full Israeli withdrawal from lands occupied in the 1967 Middle East war. Any proposal for a total Israeli pullout from the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Golan Heights would face opposition from right-wingers in Israel, where security concerns have mounted alongside violence in a 17-month-old Palestinian uprising that has left more than 1100 people dead. But after meeting Sharon, Solana told reporters the Israeli leader considered the Saudi proposal "an interesting idea." He said Sharon "would like to know more about the content and he would be ready to meet anybody from Saudi Arabia, formally, informally, publicly, discreetly, whatever, to get better information about this initiative." Raanan Gissin, a Sharon spokesman, said the prime minister "was always ready to meet with any Arab leader interested in advancing peace." Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, who Sharon accuses of fostering anti-Israeli attacks and refuses to meet, said he "appreciated and supported completely" Abdullah's efforts. Washington appeared to be warming to the Saudi initiative. A White House spokesman said President Bush spoke with the crown prince about it Tuesday. "The president praised the crown prince's ideas regarding the full Arab-Israeli normalization once a comprehensive peace agreement has been reached," spokesman Ari Fleischer said. EU ENVOY SAYS SAUDI PROPOSAL DIFFERENT FROM THE REST Numerous international efforts, including a U.S.-backed truce-to-talks plan, have failed to stem bloodshed in which 892 Palestinians and 277 Israelis have been killed since September 2000, when the uprising against Israeli occupation began. Solana, who will be the first senior diplomat to discuss the Saudi initiative with Abdullah face-to-face since it was floated in a New York Times article on February 17, said the proposal contained two important new elements. "One is part of the message," he said, referring to normalization, "and the other is the messenger...Saudi Arabia is an important Arab country and this is coming from them." Despite a new spasm of Israeli-Palestinian violence on Monday, U.S.-hosted security talks between the two sides were due to resume later Tuesday. The Palestinian cabinet said after an urgent meeting it had approved a resumption of the talks in response to international appeals and to underline its calls for a cease-fire. The Palestinians suspended the sessions Sunday after Israel said its army blockades would continue to keep Arafat confined to the West Bank city of Ramallah. The last meeting was held last Thursday. ISRAELI EDITORIALS WELCOME SAUDI PROPOSAL Israeli newspaper editorials urged Sharon to seize the Saudi initiative. "For Israel, sickened by Yasser Arafat and bereft of any last vestiges of confidence in him, the Saudi plan is an opportunity to sign a peace treaty with most of the Arab world (except for countries like Libya and Iraq), including the Palestinians," the left-wing Ha'aretz newspaper said. Some Israeli commentators said the initiative could simply be an attempt by Riyadh to improve its standing with the U.S. government after the September 11 attacks on the United States, carried out mainly by Saudi nationals. A Western diplomat predicted all Arab states would follow Saudi Arabia's lead if its proposals resulted in a full Israeli pullout from occupied land. But the diplomat also said the right-wing Sharon could never accept such a condition. "It would be political suicide for him," he said. Despite talk of a diplomatic drive, Israeli-Palestinian tensions remained high. An Israeli policewoman died from her wounds overnight in a Jerusalem hospital after she was shot trying to prevent an attack by a Palestinian gunman in which nine Israelis were hurt. Two Palestinians and two Israelis were killed in the West Bank Monday. 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