Washington Views Saudi Proposal as Positive Step to Mideast Peace

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Wednesday, February 20, 2002

Washington Views Saudi Proposal as Positive Step to Mideast Peace

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A Saudi peace proposal to recognize Israel in exchange for Israel's total withdrawal from occupied Palestinian land is a "significant and positive step," said U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher on Tuesday.

"We saw the statements over the weekend by Crown Prince Abdullah (bin Abdul Aziz). Certainly, if Saudi Arabia is willing to reach out to Israel to talk about peace and normalization of relations, then that is a significant and positive step," said Boucher at a news briefing.

The Saudi proposal highlights the importance of not giving up on Arab-Israeli peace and the critical need to do everything to help end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he said.

The U.S. will continue to talk to the Saudis and others about how to help the parties end the violence and resume the political process, he pledged.

However, the spokesman noted that the crucial first step remains for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and the Palestinian National Authority to make every effort to arrest terrorists and to dismantle the terrorist organizations that continue to carry out attacks against Israel.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Crown Prince Abdullah had proposed in an interview with the newspaper that the Arab nations recognize Israel in exchange for the Jewish state's total withdrawal from occupied territory.

"Full withdrawal from all the occupied territories, in accord with U.N. resolutions, including in Jerusalem, for full normalization of relations," the crown prince was quoted as saying.

The crown prince also disclosed that he had included the idea in his speech to be delivered at the Arab summit scheduled for March 27-28 in Beirut, Lebanon.

Asked whether Israel should retreat to the borders before the 1967 Middle East War, Boucher refused to be specific but said that"We've always supported the idea of negotiations within the framework of Resolutions 242, 338, and the concept of land for peace."

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