| The push for peace has taken on great
urgency in recent days as deaths in Palestinian-Israeli violence mount.
But the Saudi initiative has been criticised
by some Arabs, raising the possibility it will be altered before being
formally presented to such an extent that the Israelis will reject it or
deem it irrelevant.
Egypt and other influential Arab moderates
have welcomed the Saudi proposal as at least a basis for peacemaking.
Al-Faisal said his kingdom would formally
present the proposal at an Arab summit in Beirut, Lebanon, at the end of
this month.
"Arab nations stress their intention to
realise a lasting and comprehensive peace but at the same time Israel must
show its good faith toward peace," al-Faisal said Sunday.
He called on Israel to withdraw from Arab
territory captured in war and grant "the legitimate rights of the Palestinians,
including the creation of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.
"If it does that it will be met with complete
peace from Arab nations."
Al-Faisal said Abdullah and Mubarak have
spoken at length on the initiative and both sides shared alarm at "Palestinian
bloodshed."
During the past week, at least 114 Palestinians
and 36 Israelis have died -- the highest toll during any week since the
conflict erupted.
The week also saw the largest number of
fatalities in a single day, 45 on Friday.
Al-Faisal did not elaborate on the peace
initiative or say whether a written draft had been prepared or whether
it referred to the sticky issue of Palestinian refugees.
Last week, Palestinian Planning Minister
Nabil Shaath said an emerging draft referred to U.N. resolution 194, which
says Palestinian refugees should be allowed to return to their homes or
receive compensation for their losses.
The refugee question has derailed previous
peace efforts because Israel fears the return of Palestinians to what is
now Israel would destroy the state's Jewish character.
Al-Faisal did not answer directly when
asked whether the Saudi peace proposal would be submitted if the Israelis
kept Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat from attending the Beirut summit,
but strongly indicated it would, saying the plan "is for the benefit of
Palestine."
Palestinian officials have said the Saudis
told them that the peace initiative would be presented at the Arab summit
only if Arafat was there.
Arafat has been confined to the West Bank
town of Ramallah since December, and Israel has said it would lift the
travel ban only if Arafat tries to curb attacks by Palestinian militants
on Israeli civilians.
The Saudi initiative has won the support
of heavyweight Arab countries, including Egypt, Jordan and Syria, though
Syria has said the refugee issue must be addressed.
At an Arab League foreign minister's meeting
Saturday in Cairo, Libya criticised the proposals, calling on Arabs to
increase support for the Palestinian uprising.
"I think those who were betting on the
possibility of a solution with Israel have failed," Libyan diplomat Ali
Abd al-Salam al-Turiki said Sunday in Cairo.
"There is no possibility for such a solution.
There is ongoing war. We have to take practical measures."
Al-Turiki said a boycott of Israel could
be among the measures taken.
Arab attempts to revive economic campaigns
against Israel have faltered in recent years as moderate Arabs states,
including some in the Gulf, opened low-level trade ties with Israel.
Amid the disagreements, the Arab foreign
ministers' meeting in Cairo was wrapping up Sunday without a formal statement
on the Saudi initiative, according to Syrian Foreign Minister Farouk al-Sharaa.
Al-Sharaa said no initiative would come
out of the Arab summit "that Syria has reservations about."
Israel has shown interest in the Saudi
initiative, though it rejects any full withdrawal from territories it seized
in the 1967 Mideast war.
The United States has called the ideas
positive. U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney is to discuss them when he comes
to the region this week.
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