Colin Powell and Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud al-Faisal Speak at the State Department

WASHINGTON, May 7 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Saudi Arabia is not yet convinced of the need for an international Middle East “peace conference” of the kind proposed last week, Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said Monday, May 6, in Washington. 

"The idea that came out of the quadripartite meeting is being looked at," the prince said, referring to a proposal from the international diplomatic "quartet" on the Middle East that was outlined by U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. 

"The conference or a meeting is not an objective in itself, it depends on what that meeting includes and until these ideas are cleared, I don't think we can give an opinion on that," the prince said after talks with Powell at the State Department. 

"But it is not a bad idea if the content is the proper content." 

Powell announced plans for the conference on Thursday after a meeting of the "quartet" which includes the United States, the United Nations, the European Union and Russia. 

The Saudi foreign minister, however, appeared not at all convinced and laid the onus for any progress on Israel completing its withdrawal from the West Bank, calling on sides to show "a positive attitude to change the circumstances" in the region. 

"The withdrawal is a necessary first step, but the important work is coming after that in the next steps," Prince Saud said after his meeting with Powell. 

On Thursday, Powell said the conference - to be held at the foreign minister level and referred to by some as a "meeting" - would be held in the early summer and would cover a wide range of issues including security, economic reform, humanitarian issues and political negotiations. 

The initial concept for the conference is that it would be held somewhere in Europe, possibly in June, U.S. officials have said. Potential venues in the Middle East are also under consideration, they say. 

Powell, for his part, delivered an impassioned plea for religious and ethnic tolerance, especially in the Middle East. 

"The only way to break the cycle of violence is to convince the parties to conflict that investing in peace and cooperating with their neighbors pays greater rewards than unending strife," Powell told the Anti-Defamation League of B'Nai B'rith, a leading U.S. Jewish group. 

Powell later met with Jordan’s King Abdullah and hard-line Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Jordan’s Abdullah will meet with Bush Friday. 

Sharon was to present Bush on Tuesday with his own blueprint for peace that Israeli officials said outlined incremental steps towards a settlement but excluded Arafat from the process. 

The plan calls for a complete restructuring of Arafat's Palestinian Authority, accused of corruption and terrorism and destroyed by the Israeli military push, with a regional conference to help along peace efforts. 

Sharon carried a 100-page intelligence file that aimed to prove Arafat's Palestinian Authority both financed and oversaw the execution of a wave of strikes that sparked Israel's West Bank drive. 

Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat called the report a fabrication.

"The report which Sharon plans to present to American President (George W.) Bush is a fabrication. It is false and riddled with lies," Erakat said.

U.S. officials kept up their pressure on Arafat to reform his Palestinian Authority and renounce “terrorism.” But they also put heat on Sharon over the Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories. 

"I think it's clear, both in the previous administration and in this administration, that something has to be done with the problem of settlements," Powell told NBC television Sunday.  

Israeli Operation Defensive Sheild Palestine: Maps and Facts At Least 16 Killed, 50 Injured in Bomb Attack Outside Tel Aviv EgyptAir Flight Went Down In Heavy Rains, Ambassador Exclusive: American Muslim Runs for U.S. Congress Israel Freezes Bethlehem Deal, Italy Refuses Receiving Deportees Egypt Says U.S. Made ‘Slip Of Tongue’ About Arafat Two Muslims killed in Nepal Army attack on mosque UN General Assembly Begins Emergency Session On Jenin U.N. War Crimes Prosecutor Tours Croatia Atrocity Sites U.S. Grants Bahrain, Kuwait Permission To Visit Detainees in Guantanamo Bay Bush Expands “Axis of Evil”, U.S. Body Calls for Sanctions Against Saudi Arabia  E.U. Confirms Aid to Palestine for Civilian Projects  U.N. Says Israeli Offensive on West Bank Cost $300m  Sharon Discussing Peace in Washington, Israeli Army Occupies Tulkarem After Le Pen’s Defeat, Dutch Far-right Leader Shot Dead Saudi’s Faisal Not Convinced on Mideast “Peace” Conference Jenin – Israel’s Latest War Crime After Killing More Jenin Civilians, Israeli Army ‘Sorry’ U.S.: Jenin Unanswered, Let’s Stress Humanitarian Aid Israel Has ‘Other’ Reasons Not To Cooperate With Jenin Mission, Ahtisaari U.S. Eyewitnesses Narrate Two Weeks In Ramallah, Jenin Jenin War Crimes Investigation Needed: Human Rights Watch Report Amnesty Finds Evidence Confirming Atrocities in Jenin & Elsewhere Faced With Israeli Refusal, Annan Mulls Disbanding Jenin Fact-finding Team Arab American Leaders Meet with Annan To Discuss U.N. Mission To Jenin Yesterday's News Search Articles      News Archive : Day: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31     Month: 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12   Year: 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999