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Gulf Arab FMs Meet To Discuss Palestinian Crisis
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Prince
Abdullah will brief Gulf foreign ministers on outcome of U.S.
visit
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RIYADH,
May 12 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - An extraordinary meeting of
Gulf Arab foreign ministers on the Israeli-Palestinian crisis has been
postponed a day to May 15, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Secretary
General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya said Saturday, May 11.
The
meeting of chief diplomats of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi
Arabia and the United Arab Emirates will take place on Wednesday, May
15, in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah, and not on Tuesday in the
capital Riyadh as earlier announced, he told Agence France Presse
(AFP).
The
one-day postponement was requested by Oman for reasons related to its
foreign minister's schedule, Attiya said.
The
meeting "will focus on latest developments in the Palestinian
territories and the contacts undertaken by Saudi Arabia at the Arab
and international levels" on the Middle East conflict, he said.
GCC
heavyweight Saudi Arabia, which called for next week's meeting, has
proposed a plan for peace with Israel which was endorsed by an Arab
summit in Beirut in late March.
GCC
leaders are due to hold their fourth annual consultative summit
focusing on the Middle East crisis and economic integration within
days of the foreign ministers' meeting.
Saudi
Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz is expected to brief
fellow Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) leaders on his recent visit to
the United States. "Crown Prince Abdullah's visit to the United
States and his meeting with President George W. Bush will be the main
topic on the agenda," the official said.
Abdullah,
Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, held "successful" talks with
President Bush in his Texas ranch April 25 about the situation in the
Middle East in addition to bilateral ties. He presented Bush with an
eight-point proposal aimed at reviving talks between Israelis and
Palestinians, stalled since September 2000.
The
visit appeared to have helped break the impasse in the Middle East,
underscoring the importance of the relationship between Washington and
Riyadh.
Economic
issues, especially the GCC customs union and the common customs duty
on imports, will be discussed in detail, the official said.
GCC
leaders approved at their summit in Muscat in December 2001 a five
percent common customs duty on imports as a prelude to establishing a
customs union early next year.
The
consultative meeting is likely to review proposals put forward by
member states for the distribution of the customs revenue on the
alliance, which groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
the United Arab Emirates.
The
Muscat summit approved a proposal to establish a monetary union by
2010, after accepting the U.S. dollar as a yardstick for a single
currency.
The
GCC, formed in 1981, has since 1999 held two annual summits, with
decisions left for the main meeting at the end of each year.
Meanwhile,
Saudi newspapers warned Sunday, May 12, that the failure of current
efforts to achieve a peaceful settlement in the Middle East may drag
the whole region into all-out war, AFP reported.
"Arab
support for any effort towards peace must continue, as long as it
comes within their framework for peace and stops the crimes of the
occupiers," Al-Watan newspaper said in comments on an Arab
mini-summit in Egypt.
"The
current phase is far more serious than some may think, because the
possibility of peace efforts reaching deadlock means opening the door
wide to war," in the region, it added.
"This
is exactly what [Israeli Prime Minister Ariel] Sharon, politically
besieged from all directions, is trying to drag Arabs into as a way
out of his dilemma," the paper added.
Al-Watan
said the summit was the first step to be followed by others on
"the road to preserving Arab unity for peace."
Al-Riyadh
newspaper said peace was the only option, but urged more U.S.
understanding of the views of Arabs. "The call for peace is the
driving force for coexistence. Everything else is an option for
death," the daily said, urging Israel to understand the
consequence of wars.
The
paper said the United States must apply more pressure on Israel and
act as "a mediator and not a foe," for Arabs.
On
Sunday, a top Saudi scholar Sheikh Saleh Al-Fouzan said that it is
permissible for Muslims to make peace with the Jews if it is in
Islam's interest, reported Saudi daily newspaper, Al-Jazeera.
"A
truce or reconciliation is permissible with the Jews or other non
Muslims if it is in the interest of Muslims, the way Prophet Muhammad
did in his reconciliation with the Jews in [Muslim holy city of]
Medina and infidels in [the Saudi city of] Al-Hudaybiyyah," Sheik
Al-Fouzan said.
He
was referring to peace agreements that Islam's seventh century Prophet
Muhammad signed with Jews, Christians and infidels living in Muslim
territories in the early days of the Islamic faith.
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