League Chief Urges Review of Peace Proposals to Israel
Arab League chief Nabil al-Arabi said on Saturday that the bloc should review its peace proposals to Israel and its entire stance on the peace process in response to the conflict in Gaza.
Member states should "reconsider all past Arab initiatives on the peace process and review their stance on the process as a whole," he told an Arab foreign ministers' meeting in Cairo called to discuss the conflict.
Speaking after Arabi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohammed Kamel Amr too said Arab governments had to "reconsider this strategy."
"There are proposals, and many efforts, without there being peace," he said, adding that in the future "there would be no land left to talk about a Palestinian state" because of Israeli settlement construction in the occupied West Bank.
In 2002 Arab states offered Israel diplomatic recognition in return for its withdrawal from all occupied territory and an equitable settlement of the Palestinian refugee question.
The proposal, dubbed the Arab Peace Initiative, has since defined Arab diplomacy towards Israel.
Two Arab states -- Egypt and Jordan -- have signed peace treaties with Israel. Neither Arabi no Amr made reference to those agreements.
Source: Agence France Presse
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