Palestine's top diplomat pledges to study Arab peace initiative with positive attitude

Palestinian Foreign Minister Mahmud al-Zahar said Wednesday in Beijing that the Palestinian government will study the Arab peace initiative with a "serious and positive attitude" to seek a just solution to the Palestinian issue.

China has been firmly supporting the just cause of the Palestinian people, and the Palestinian side will continue to exert efforts together with the Chinese side in this regard, Zahar said.

Zahar made the remarks while attending the ongoing second Ministerial Meeting of the China-Arab Cooperation Forum, which opened here Wednesday afternoon.

The foreign ministers and representatives from the 22 Arab states and Secretary-General of the League of Arab States Amr Mahmoud Moussa attended the meeting.

The Arab peace initiative, adopted at an Arab summit in Beirut in March 2002, says Arab countries will normalize relations with Israel if the Jewish state withdraws from Arab territories taken in the 1967 Arab-Israeli war and an independent Palestinian state is established with east Jerusalem as its capital.

In an interview with Xinhua, Moussa said on Tuesday that the Arab League has urged and will continue to urge the new Palestinian government to recognize the Arab peace initiative, which calls for negotiations, return of Palestinian territories, establishment of a Palestinian state and normalization of ties with Israel.

"The only way" for this government is to move on and to recognize the initiatives, Moussa said, adding, "This is the only thing we want from them."

On Tuesday, China urged Hamas to renounce violence and recognize Israel for the interest of the the Palestinian people.

China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao also urged Hamas to accept the agreements reached previously between Palestinine and Israel.

The European Union and the United States have cut off aid to the Palestinian National Authority since the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) formed a government in late March.

Liu said China is concerned with the situation in the Middle East, and does not support the use of political isolation and economic blockage.

He said all the relevant parties in the Middle East should solve disputes through political consultations based on relevant resolutions of the United Nations and the principle of land for peace, so as to realize peaceful coexistence.

Liu also said China will explain its opinions to Zahar during his stay in China.

Source: Xinhua