Arab League (AL) Secretary General Amr Moussa said here on Monday that Arab states would persuade the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), winner of the Jan. 25 Palestinian parliamentary elections, to accept the land- for-peace principle for settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

The 2002 Arab peace initiative called for an Israeli withdrawal from all the territories it occupied in the 1967 Mideast war and the creation of an independent Palestinian state. In return, Arab states would agree to normalize relations with Israel.

Expressing his disgust at some western countries' threat to withhold their financial assistance to the Palestinian National Authority if Hamas, sworn to the destruction of Israel, comes to power, Moussa said that Hamas should be given a chance since it has won the confidence of most Palestinians.

"The assistance should be provided on the basis of developments instead of politics," Moussa told a press conference.

The so-called Quartet of Mideast peace mediators, comprising Russia, the U.S., the European Union and the U.N., has called on Hamas to renounce violence, recognize Israel and accept existing agreements with Israel including the "road map" peace plan or face cutoff in aid.

On an upcoming Arab summit due to be held on March 28-29 in Khartoum, Moussa disclosed that the Arab leaders would discuss a proposal of establishing Arab Peace and Security Council, which is aimed at considering threats to the security of the Arab world and dealing with the Arab security problems.

The AL chief arrived in Khartoum on Sunday evening to inspect preparations for the upcoming Arab summit and hold talks with the Sudanese leaders on the agenda of the summit.

Source: Xinhua