Saudi Arabia's crown prince told visiting EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana he would "work to present" his Middle East peace initiative at the upcoming Arab summit to be held next month in Beirut, Solana's spokesperson said.
Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz "said he will work from now onwards to present the initiative to the Beirut summit" on March 27-28 so it can be "presented by all Arab countries" as a joint peace plan, Cristina Gallach told AFP.
Solana, who cut short a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories to fly to Jeddah, "offered his support and the European countries' backing" for the prince's Middle East peace proposal, she added after an hour-long meeting between the two men in this Saudi city.
Gallach said Solana "conveyed to the crown prince the Israeli leaders' interest in the Saudi peace ideas," which envisage Arab normalization of ties with the Jewish state in exchange for its full withdrawal from occupied Arab land.
Solana was "impressed by the crown prince's ... determination to push forward his ideas for peace and his decision that (they should) become the ideas of the Arab countries" as a whole, she said. Solana left without speaking to reporters.
"We expect the European Union to play a bigger role in the Middle East peace process in light of today's talks," said a Saudi official, who asked not to be named.
Gallach added Solana, who then left Jeddah for Cairo, would meet Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa in the Egyptian capital later Wednesday.
He will confer with President Hosni Mubarak on Thursday morning and fly to Aqaba the same day for a meeting with Jordan's King Abdullah II, the spokeswoman said. (Albawaba.com)
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