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Riyadh backs W. Asia meet

Jerusalem: The U.S.-brokered Annapolis peace conference was given a significant boost on Friday when heavyweight Saudi Arabia decided to send its Foreign Minister to the launch of the first peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians in seven years. Syria, Israel’s most implacable Arab enemy, signalled that it was now also likely to attend.

Prince Saud al-Faisal said he would be taking part in next Tuesday’s Maryland summit as part of an Arab “consensus” of support for the Palestinians —despite near-universal gloom about the prospects of agreement on the toughest issues.

Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian President, had urged fellow Arab leaders to come to Annapolis, arguing that there were prospects of meaningful negotiations with Ehud Olmert of Israel on the creation of a Palestinian state within a year. “We have a historic opportunity,” Mr. Abbas told reporters in Cairo. “We are hoping that we will be together at the conference discussing all tracks, the Palestinian-Israeli track, the Syrian-Israeli track and the Lebanese track.”

Saudi Arabia, home to the Muslim holy sites of Makkah and Medina as well as a quarter of world oil reserves, is Washington’s closest ally in the Arab world. Its presence guarantees wide, if sceptical, Arab support for George Bush’s initiative.

Syria’s position remains unclear. It has been holding out for a reference to the Golan Heights, still occupied by Israel 40 years after the 1967 war. “The United States has sent confirmation that it will include the Syrian-Israeli track ... the Golan ... on the Annapolis agenda,” the official Syrian news agency quoted Foreign Minister Walid Moualem as saying. “Syria will decide whether to attend or not in light of the agenda it receives.” Diplomats said consultations would continue over the weekend to secure U.S. agreement to the demand from Damascus. “I think the Americans will include the reference Syria wants because they can’t afford not to have us all there,” one senior Arab official said.

Unlike Egypt and Jordan, Saudi Arabia has no diplomatic relations with Israel. — © Guardian Newspapers Limited, 2007

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