Arab foreign ministers agreed today to relaunch a five-year-old initiative for peace with Israel at their summit this week but without any of the alterations sought by the Jewish state.
After a meeting of the foreign ministers in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari said the plan would be presented to the United Nations and the Quartet of Middle East peace brokers for their endorsement.
The 2002 peace plan to be re-endorsed at the March 28th-29th summit, offers Israel normal ties with all Arab states in return for full withdrawal from all land occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.
A draft text of the resolutions reiterates a call "to all Israelis to accept the initiative and seize the current opportunity to return to the direct and serious negotiating process at all levels."
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal
It calls for a "just solution to the problem of Palestinian refugees" who fled their homes in 1948 and reiterates "the right of return of the Palestinian refugees in line ... with UN General Assembly resolution 194."
Resolution 194, passed after the 1948 war that followed Israel's creation, says "refugees wishing to return to their homes ... should be permitted to do so, and ... compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return."
Israel rejected the plan in 2002 and continues to object to some elements, including the proposed return to 1967 borders, the status of Jerusalem and the refugee issue.
Most Arab states have backed the peace plan and Saudi Arabia is lobbying Islamist group Hamas, which heads the Palestinian government, to back it.
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was upbeat about the plan today, telling reporters that "if moderate Arab countries will try to advance the process along the lines of the Saudi initiative, I would look at it as a very positive development."
But Israeli Defence Minister Amir Peretz warned that that were clauses that "we do not agree with." He did not elaborate.
A senior Palestinian official said Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal had told Saudi leaders yesterday his group would not oppose the peace plan at the summit.
Hamas has avoided giving clear support for the plan. Officials from the group have welcomed the idea of a Palestinian state in the Gaza Strip and occupied West Bank, including Arab East Jerusalem, but reject an explicit recognition of Israel.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Arab endorsement would enhance the plan's chances.
"If the Arabs have a clear and strong position on the initiative, it has more chance of being adopted internationally and of serious peace negotiations," he said.