U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will confer late this month with her Arab counterparts in Egypt on regional situation, including the current Palestinian crisis, Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Tuesday.
Preparations for the talks between Rice and the Arab foreign ministers to be held in Egypt's Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh are underway, Abul Gheit said in a statement.
U.S. President George W. Bush's Monday speech on revival of the Mideast peace process and the Arab Peace Initiative will be among the topics at the upcoming meeting, according to Abul Gheit, who did not give the specific date of the talks.
The talks, however, will follow an emergency meeting of the Arab foreign ministers scheduled for July 30 in Cairo to tackle on a report by the Arab Contact Group, which was entrusted with following up on the Arab Peace Initiative and the current Palestinian crisis, Abul Gheit added.
Abul Gheit welcomed Bush's call for holding an international conference to activate the stalled Middle East peace process, noting that the U.S. vision "contained positive elements which must be upheld, built upon and developed."
The Egyptian diplomat voiced support for the U.S. proposal to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and establish an independent Palestinian state.
The establishment of the Palestinian state will be realized not only through ending the Israel occupation of the Palestinian territories but also through removing the Israeli settlements already set up on the Palestinian territories, Abul Gheit stressed.
As for the Arab Peace Initiative, Abul Gheit termed the implementation of the initiative as a serious and honest beginning for any real settlement between the Arabs and Israel.
The Arab Peace Initiative, first approved in 2002 and reactivated during an Arab summit in Riyadh late March, offers that all Arab countries recognize of Israel on condition that Israel withdraws from all Arab territories it occupied during the 1967 six-day war, including East Jerusalem.
Source: Xinhua
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article