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President George W. Bush (file)
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| By Israel Insider staff July 31, 2007 |
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The Arab League said yesterday that it would consider President George W. Bush's call for a Mideast conference in the fall to discuss the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, on the condition that Israel concede the Golan Heights to Syria.
Foreign ministers from 16 Arab states met in Egypt on Monday to discuss Middle East peace efforts. They praised elements of Bush's peace initiative, especially those related to "founding an independent Palestine state, his call for ending the Israeli settlements and ending the Israeli occupation," as the League's secretary-general, Amr Moussa, said.
"Peace cannot be completed without withdrawal from Syrian territory, so all the parties have to be there," Moussa said at a press conference in Egypt after meeting.
Israel won the strategic Golan Heights in the 1967 war, when it was attacked by its Arab neighbors, among them Syria, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Before the war, Syria used to periodically shower Israeli towns beneath the Golan with missiles.
Syria, who sent represenative Youssef Ahmed instead of its foreign minister, rejected the consideration of Bush's proposal and eventually stormed out of the meeting.
"I expressed reservations about any form of welcome for what is called U.S. President George Bush's initiative because we in Syria believe that discussing the Palestinian issue in the meeting under the current state of Palestinian schism... would lead to killing off the Palestinian cause," Ahmed said.
He was later quoted as saying that "the suggested conference will liquidate the Palestinian cause."
The League has officially adopted the Saudi-backed peace initiative that calls for a full Israeli withdrawal from the lands won in the 1967 war in exchange for normalized ties with the Arab world.
"Any international gathering has to be comprehensive, a serious one, and the agenda has to be considered carefully. It should include all those involved in the conflict and the time frame must be defined," Moussa said.
An Arab diplomat in Washington said the sides were still discussing how, if at all, Bush's proposal for a conference in the fall could progress peace talks, according to Ha'aretz. The source noted that that the Bush administration has only 17 months left in office.
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